Gatekeepers 02
by Wild Goose 01
Summary: In 2002, Enigma creates a special team of Gatekeepers for one purpose: Invader Hunting... NOW UPDATED!
1. Introduction

**Gatekeepers 02**

  


**Introduction**

* * * * *

It is the year 2002. Thirty-two years have passed since AEGIS' war with the Invaders intensified, thirty-two years since the battle came to a head at the steps of Tokyo's Diet building, where the Invaders were defeated by the AEGIS Far East Branch Gatekeepers and banished from the world...or so it was believed.

It is also the fifth year of the resumption of AEGIS' shadow war, five years since the Invaders returned to the world. The Invaders have returned, more cunning and dangerous that they were in they past, and they are bent on destroying the world.

But there is a light at the end of the tunnel: individuals called Gatekeepers, who posses the ability to draw power from an alternate dimension, the power that can defeat the Invaders. But they are not an answer for everything. Many of the Gatekeepers are teens, suffering from the same insecurities and dilemmas that plague their peers, and few if any have happy pasts, the price paid for having their powers.

Now, as the Invader threat grows, Gatekeepers from AEGIS Branches all over the world are being summoned to a conference on the Invader threat. For several in particular, this will be a time of trials...

...a time of tribulations...

...a time of uncertainty...

Only one thing is sure: the Invaders are multiplying, and if nothing is done, the world will soon be awash in the red tide of death. The Gatekeepers must set aside their differences and band together, or all will be lost.

They will unite...or they will fall.

----------------------------------  
**Disclaimer and Information**  
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Gatekeepers 02 takes place in a pararell world separate but similar to that of Gatekeepers 21, which is why it's here in the Gatekeepers archive. Gatekeepers and Gatekeepers 21 are the intellectual property of Studio GONZO, Kenji Gotoh & crew, and whoever worked on the original Playstation Gatekeepers Dating-sim/RPG. All hail to GONZO, for creating such a wonderful anime to mess around with (along with Vandread, Last Exile, Hellsing, Full Metal Panic!, and my personal favorite: Sentou Yousei Yukikaze).

Gatekeepers 02 blatantly disregards cannon as regards to the Gatekeepers 1985 novel and Gatekeepers 21 OVA, whereby in _this_ universe the disaster that befell AEGIS in 1970 NEVER happened...though you just might see some familiar faces from here and there...

GK02 begins in late 2002, Prologue taking place in late August.

---------------  
**Dedications**  
---------------

I would like to take this time and oppurtunity to thank a number of people who have helped and inspired me into this, my fourth fanfiction endeavor, and quite possibly the largest: aloofmonkey, who introduced me to the world of Gatekeepers one fateful July evening; Yamamoto Kou and Chrone, my ex-juniors, who helped bounce around an idea of a Gatekeepers fanfic, waaaaaay back in 2002; black gargie, for providing the foil for my first fanfic EVER (which shall remain hidden in my knapsack until 50 years from now); my friend and ex-senior Rachel, for introducing me to fanfics; Cool Blue Firefox, for putting up with my rants about Saiyuki (and me calling her Hakuryu); Sorceress of Blades, who gave support to this project while it was still in its infancy, and especially to everyone who has reviewed any of my fics: I write not only for myself, but for you guys as well!

With that, I think it's time to end these notes. Click on the button below, and happy reading! Please email me with your responses! And if you want a faster response go to MAHQ.net's forums, and look for me there (esp. in the RPG forum). Flames will be used to roast mashmallows and potatoes for dinner! Reviews and comments can be directed to wild_goose_05@yahoo.com. Hell, even if you just want to rant and vent, email me anyway, I _LOOOOOVEEEEE_ email! ^_^ And before you go, one last thing:

"_Luck's got nuthin' to do with it_." - Speedy, Samurai Pizza Cats. 


	2. Prologue

**Disclaimer**: Gatekeepers is the property of GONZO. All other charecters not appearing in cannon GK, and this world's AEGIS, Invaders, command structure, etc, are property of me. Please don't sue me, as I'm out of cash again.

Note: The original form of this Prologue posted 29/1/04 had a number of errors in it as regards to spelling and the like, this is a revised version.

**Gatekeepers 02**

  


**Prologue**

* * * * *

_Prologue I: Shippuu no Densetsu_

**Tokyo, Japan.**

"Yeah, I'll be home a bit late tonight...did you hear about so-and-so..."

A young woman walked down a lonely street, talking on her cell phone. As she entered a covered tunnel, beneath the train tracks, the lights suddenly flickered, and went out, as her phone went dead, hissing with static. She looked up in horror to see a large group of gray-skinned beige-coated figures, advancing on her. "Come to our world," they intoned, as they massed around her.

Her instinctual reaction was to scream, but there was no one to hear her, except for the Invaders...

_*Cling*_

The Invaders turned their heads sharply at the sound, one that was unusual to hear, but certainly not out of the ordinary...

_*Cling*_

...the sound of a bell.

A girl with short spiky black hair walked up, dressed in the uniform of Tategami High School: black jacket, white blouse, checkered miniskirt, red tie, and a red coat, her hands in the pockets, a gray knapsack slung over her back. Light reflected off her round glasses, obscuring her dark eyes for a moment as she looked up at the Invaders.

"Yare yare," she said quietly, "another bunch of puny underlings." Removing her hands from her pockets she drew two cell phones, flipping the covers up and pressing a few buttons, before throwing them forward. One cell phone activated the Gate of Explosions, self-detonating in a massive fireball while the other shot out a pulse of lightning that washed over the Invaders. Light flickered and danced throughout the tunnel, as the Invaders tried to fight back, firing with their guns. One of the Invaders' severed hands was flung back and landed near the young woman, who stared at it and screamed as it dissolved into nothingness.

Within seconds, the Invaders were no more, and the woman was slumped on the floor, still in shock, as the girl calmly picked up the crystals that littered the floor. The woman looked at her, speaking hesitantly. "Umm, I want to say, I mean-"

The girl turned and looked at her, saying only, "Hurry up and go home."

"Hai!" nodded the woman vigorously, thankful to have survived the ordeal, as Isuzu Ayane walked off into the night.

* * * * *

_Prologue II: Twisting Time_

**Vancouver, Canada.**

"Whaddya mean I have to go to a meeting in New York?"

The brown-haired young man was not happy, as evidenced by his tone as he glared at his cell phone. He scowled, and continued scowling as his Commander spoke.

"Look, I don't like the Yanks anymore than you, but there's a meeting in New York in a month's time, and we need to send a representative from Canada, so you're going."

"Humph," muttered the young man. "Why me? Why not the Captain?"

"She's in hospital, remember? Appendicitis. Besides, you happen to be our most senior Gatekeeper, and there's the fact that you've been overseas, so going to an International conference won't give you a culture shock. The other kids are a bit too immature for this," replied the senior AEGIS agent. "So you'll go then?"

"Does it look like I have a choice?" asked the brown-haired Gatekeeper.

"Well, no."

"Fine, I'll go," muttered the Gatekeeper, still scowling.

"I knew we could count on you Aaron," replied the AEGIS agent. 

"Just don't expect me to like this meeting," muttered Aaron.

"You really should lighten up, you know..."

The only response was a low growl as the Gatekeeper hung up the cell phone, walking down the street. A beeping noise sounded from his knapsack, and he opened it to consult his laptop, his eyes narrowing at the display.

_Invaders showing up again, two blocks from here. Well, it's time to get to work..._

Walking down the street towards the Invaders, the young man smiled and opened his black coat, drawing a pistol from his left side. "Come on," he said, smirking grimly. "Let's see how well you scum do against a Gatekeeper."

As the Invaders grinned menacingly, Aaron dropped into a defensive crouch, bringing his pistol up. Light from its laser sight danced on the Invaders' chests as he fired, releasing 10mm hollow point slugs. As the Invaders fired, the first row fell, disintegrating into crystals as the bullets struck them. In a fluid gesture Aaron dropped his pistol and reached behind him. A silver Gate appeared, and from it he drew a katana, it blade glowing a fluid silver, its grip a polished black. He brought it into a defensive position, his eyes narrowing, as silver swirls appeared in them. As the Invader bullets neared him, time slowed, and he struck with his katana, moving gracefully, deflecting the Invaders' projectiles effortlessly, as time resumed to its normal pace.

As the Invaders were about to fire their second salvo, Aaron suddenly vanished, appearing in the midst of them. Their only indication of his presence was when their ranks suddenly disintegrated before his sword. The Invaders quickly surrounded him and fired, but he smirked contemptibly and vanished. More than half of the remaining Invaders were killed by their own guns, and the rest were disoriented, so disoriented, in fact, that they didn't see four cell phones trapping them in a box.

With a touch of his finger Aaron pressed his laptop's **[ENTER]** key. The cell phones opened the Gate of Life, activating their shield, which trapped the Invaders inside. Before the Invaders could do anything else, Aaron pressed another button, activating another cell phone inside. A message flashed over the cell phone's screen, unnoticed by the Invaders, until it was too late: **GATE OF EXPLOSION - OPEN**.

As the blast subsided, Aaron Moore smiled, and went to collect his crystals.

* * * * *

_Prologue III: Wandering Light_

**Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.**

There are various sounds that one hears in a cosmopolitan metropolis such as Kuala Lumpur, capital city of Malaysia: the hustle and bustle of pedestrians; cars, busses and taxis going by; airplanes and helicopters flying overhead; rain falling down-

"Come to our world."

The sound of a group of gray-skinned figures chanting and walking into a shopping mall should _not_ be heard.

"Come to our world."

As one, the gray-skinned beings opened their beige trench coats, masses of tentacles shooting out of their chests that formed into machinecannons, tracking the mass of people approaching the exit, who fled at the sight of the Invaders arming their weapons, all except one.

A young man walked towards the Invaders, carrying several bags of shopping, a knapsack slung over his back. He was tall and dark-skinned, wearing black pants, black boots and a light blue shirt, sleeves rolled up to elbow level. He sighed deeply, and put the bags carefully on the floor, walking to face the Invaders. "Alright, let's get this over with," he muttered, light glinting off his oval-shaped glasses. "You're lucky I'm in a good mood today, or you would all be dead by now. Leave," he commanded, raising his left arm.

The Invaders responded by firing at him, sending pink rings of light in a full-scale blast towards the young man, who sighed again and narrowed his eyes. "Gate Open. Arrow of Light."

A shaft of golden light burst from his outstretched palm and shot out towards the Invaders, impacting in a brilliant flash of light that destroyed three Invaders. The Gatekeeper ran, dodging incoming fire, and pulled a cell phone from his pants pocket. Pressing a few buttons, he threw the cell phone at the Invaders. The cell phone skidded across the floor and came to rest at the Invaders feet, who ignored it and continued to fire at the Gatekeeper, when the cell phone beeped. Two purple rings of light opened before it, as the Imitation Gate cell phone opened the Gate of Lightning, sending purple tendrils of energy throughout the Invaders. There was a flash of light, and when it subsided, all that remained of the Invaders were a pile of crystals that glowed softly.

Quickly picking up the crystals and stuffing them in his knapsack, the young man picked up his bags and walked out towards the car park, and stopped in stunned horror as his eyes took in the sight of destruction wrought through the car park. Beginning to panic, his eyes widened as he frantically searched the car park, coming to a stop in front of a wrecked car that was burning, yet still identifiable as a Honda Civic. Sighing, he released his bags and sighed again. _Damn. Steffi's gonna kill me,_ he thought, shaking his head in resignation. _I should never have borrowed her car._

Turning away from the destruction, Jon David's last thoughts were, _Waitaminute, now how the hell am I going to get back to Singapore?!?!_

* * * * *

_Prologue IV: The Piper_

**New York City, United States of America. **

The streets were full of hustle and bustle, tourists, traffic, and people trying to get home or get a taste of the nightlife. Lights lit up the streets in an attempt to chase away the darkness, as it was late at night. On the sidewalks and zebra crossings, masses of people moved about like ants, while hobos lay on boxes at alleys, watching the people walk, surrounded by filth and garbage. 

A young mother and her young son walked hand-in-hand through Central Park. As they walked through the now almost empty and dark park, the boy looked at his surroundings, pointing excitedly at various objects. "Look, mommy, a lake!" the boy exclaimed as he pointed to a lake. "That's nice dear," responded his mother tiredly. Truth be told, she was only taking this route because it was a shortcut, not because she wanted to wander in the park at all. "How about being nice and quiet so mommy can have some peace?"

"And look mommy, a fat man!" the boy interrupted as he pointed to a man walking. 

"Now you know that's not nice to make fun of people and point, dear," the woman scolded. "Now, for that we must go to that man and say sorry. Then, after we get home, you'll get a spanking!" As the woman dragged the boy back to the man, bumping into someone. Intending to apologize, the woman looked back and saw...

...an Invader. 

The woman gasped as the boy, who didn't know what was going on, asked, "Mommy, who is that?" But the woman didn't answer him. Instead she tried to turn around and go the opposite way, but before she could take another step, Invaders appeared out of nowhere, surrounding her and her son in an instant.

The Invaders advanced closer to the mother, their faces having no expression whatsoever. Light from a lamp glinted menacingly off their sunglasses. The woman went pale, as the naive boy asked, "Mommy, are they your friends?" She didn't answer, but trembled as the Invaders got nearer to them. As one they chanted, "Come to our world." The mother held her son close to her and as the boy just looked at them, again they chanted, "Come to our world." 

Somehow, despite his youth the boy knew that something bad was about to happen. "Mommy, I'm scared. Are they going to hurt us?" he asked, in a trembling voice, trying hard not to cry. The Invaders were now all around them, with no escape for the mother and child. "Come to our world," they chanted. The boy began crying in fear as his mother began praying to whatever gods she knew, begging for mercy...

As if in answer to her prayer, a sweet melody filled the air. The mother and the Invaders looked up in confusion, searching for the source of the music. The melody continued, and within moments, the now-enchanted Invaders walked straight to its source, led on like a modern version of the Pied Piper. The mother and the boy looked in confusion as the Invaders left. Without waiting any longer, the mother scooped her son in her arms and hurried away without looking back, while the Invaders kept on walking to the source of the music.

The source of the melody turned out to be a teenage girl. She looked like she was sixteen, although a bit short for her age. She had black shoulder length hair with purple highlights, and wore a black jacket, a black T-shirt with a purple ankh, black jeans, and black boots. Her eyes were closed as she concentrated on playing her flute, the sweet, soft melody echoing throughout the park. 

As the Invaders approached her, the girl opened one eye just a fraction. Pink swirls appeared over what apparently was a yellow iris, and her lips curled slightly, before she closed the eye. As the Invaders get nearer, one by one they all fell through an open manhole leading to the sewers. The girl continued playing as she heard splash after splash when the Invaders fell through. When all the Invaders were gone, she lowered her flute and opened her eyes. In a single fluid movement, she drew a cell phone, flipping the cover open and pressing a few buttons, throwing it inside the manhole. As the cell phone tumbled down she dragged to heavy lid over the manhole, closing it. A splash marked the cellphone's arrival among the Invaders, who had begun to shake off their enchantment, now that the music was silent. As they began to move towards the ladder, the cell phone opened the Gate of Lightning, which emitted bright purple tendrils of energy that swept through the water and tunnel, frying the Invaders. The sounds of the Invaders uttering their final death-cries echoed throughout the sewers, a sound which meant that they would trouble the world no more. 

The girl nodded, her sensitive hearing picking up the telltale sounds of the cell phone's discharge, and looked up in satisfaction with what she had done. _Well, they're all gone_, she thought, replacing her flute in a small knapsack. _Now to get the crystals_. Slinging the knapsack onto her back, Minerva Taylor pushed the lid off the manhole, and jumped into the sewers. 

* * * * *

_Prologue V: The Decision_

**AEGIS Bureau 1 HQ.  
New York, USA.**

In a small, dimly lit room, four people sat around a round table. On the wall in front of them was a computer-generated map, outlining the world, and showing statistics and visual representations. A tall man with gray hair stood at the map, the light dimly reflected off his wraparound shades.

Although they looked like a small group, these five persons in the room were responsible for the defense of Earth against the invaders. They were AEGIS's highest authority, the Council, responsible for setting worldwide AEGIS policy and entrusted with the highest command authority over all bureaus of the Alien Exterminating Global Intercept System. Briefing them now was Enigma, the de facto Chief of Intelligence for AEGIS.

"As you can see, Invader activity has been on the rise for the past several years, but has begun intensifying since mid last year, most notably in Japan, North America, and Europe. Based on the calculations of the Intelligence Division, the number of Invaders confirmed killed in this past three years has reached 2.5 million."

"That's disturbing, but we knew that there had to be at least one million kills so far," remarked one of the people at the table, his voice carrying a slight trace of a Scottish accent. "What are you getting at, Enigma?"

"In a moment, Clue. He'll probably get to that soon," responded "Mystery", an American woman. "The Invaders have been increasing their numbers, but I believe that we all thought this would go away soon. It hasn't, has it?" she finished, directing her question to Enigma.

"Thank you. As you are all aware, I received disturbing news from Bureau Nine about six months ago. One of their Gatekeepers reported that the Invaders had gained the ability to replicate. Subsequent investigations that I started quietly confirmed this, and not just in Nine. Four, Six, Eight and Five all confirmed this with me." He paused to adjust his shades, and added, "Though the Invaders have now become semi-organic, rendering them vulnerable to conventional weapons, they have indeed gained the ability to replicate, which accounts for their rising numbers. If we were to eliminate all but one Invader, by the next day we would have thirty more to deal with, and those thirty could spawn another thirty..."

"What do you propose then?" asked another person seated around the table, codenamed "Puzzle". "It's not like you to be so glum."

"I was thinking of forming an international team to act as a support group for AEGIS, and to also hunt down Invaders on their own, assigned to AEGIS International and reporting directly to the council. For far too long, our focus has been on defense rather that offence. It's time to change that."

"There's a reason for that," interjected Clue. "Up until now, AEGIS never had enough resources to be tracking down Invaders. We had to wait for them to come out, rather than hunt them; it's too time-consuming. Also, ever since we started using the decentralized command structure, it's been harder to allocate resources. AEGIS International is just a liaison between the nine Bureaus; it doesn't have any authority on its own. Besides, where would you find the people?"

"It worked before, why shouldn't it work again?" asked Mystery. "I'm sure Enigma has a shortlist ready."

"Even so, times were different then. What about equipment? I remember when we first started using Gate Robots. They were a trouble to transport all over the world, and I don't think the local Bureaus would appreciate having their Gate Robots commandeered by some foreigners."

"It's already taken that into account," remarked Conundrum, the final member of the group. "Do you remember Dr. Kanatake's research into the development of a next-generation Gate Robot? As I recall, Enigma pushed quite hard for it."

"Yes, I foresaw this might happen," replied Enigma. "According to Dr. Kanatake, the two VGX-99 prototypes are ready and are undergoing final testing. We should have them ready by the conference next month. That is when I plan to announce the formation of this team."

"So, who are your candidates?" asked Mystery, as Enigma tapped a few buttons on the PDA he held. The screen shifted, revealing the face of an olive-skinned young man, wearing oval glasses, which covered eyes that seemed both young and at the same time old and weary. He had black hair, and was wearing an AEGIS uniform: dark blue jacket, light blue shirt, dark blue tie, and complete with rank insignia, topped off with a red beret on his head. "This," began Enigma, "is my proposed Team Leader: Jonathan Mark David, age 22, AEGIS Bureau 4. He is an officer in the Operations Division, responsible for conducting analysis, as well as being a Gatekeeper of the Gate of Life." Enigma pressed a button, and the image shifted to that of a young Caucasian, with brown hair and blue eyes.

"This is Aaron Moore, age 18, Assistant-Captain of Team 1-2, based in Vancouver, Canada. The Gatekeeper of Time and Space, he is my choice for assistant Team Leader, based on his track record as Assistant-Captain for Team 1-2." Enigma tapped a button, and the screen shifted again, to an image of an American girl with yellow eyes and long black hair, with purple highlights. 

"Minerva Taylor, age 15, team member of Interception Team 1-1, based here in New York. The Gatekeeper of Illusions, she is quite talented, but as with Mr. Moore, I feel her talents would be wasted here."

"And finally," as the screen shifted to a Japanese girl with short spiky hair and glasses, "Isuzu Ayane, age 18, Gatekeeper of Whirlwind; from Bureau 9, unassigned to any Interception Team."

"Isn't that because of the fact that she refuses to work with anyone but herself?" remarked Mystery. "Your protégé is very much a loner, Enigma."

"Her life experiences have not endeared her to mix with others easily," replied Enigma. "Although she has the skills she needs, her place is not in Japan."

"I thought cronyism was beneath you," remarked Clue with a slight chuckle. "At any rate, why did you pick these four Gatekeepers?"

"They are all outcasts in their respective Bureaus - well, perhaps not Mr. Moore, but they all don't fit in very well with their peers. Lt. David was formerly a rising star in Bureau 4, but he left AEGIS in late 2000, just as his career was starting to take off. He rejoined early last year, but was removed from the active-duty roster of Gatekeepers and demoted. He now serves in the Operations Division, conducting analysis on Invader tactics and Gatekeeper sorties."

"For Minerva Taylor, I believe Mystery is aware of the fact that she cannot get along with her teammates. She is constantly arguing with her Captain and Assistant-Captain, and so rather than remain there and disrupt the team, it would be better if she were reassigned to somewhere where she could begin a new start."

"As for Isuzu Ayane," and here Enigma gave a tired sigh, "She is too much of a loner. Putting her in a situation where she will have to rely on others will be good for her."

"Either that, or she'll retreat into her shell further. What about Moore?"

"It would help if there is someone who is approaching normalcy in that group," replied Enigma. "As I foresee placing Lt. David in charge of this team, he will need an experienced agent to act as his second-in-command. Agent Moore is responsible and quite talented, and I believe that it would be a waste to leave him in Canada. As he also has no wish to have command of an Interception Team, this will eliminate the possibility of power struggles occurring between him and Lt. David."

"Have it your way," replied Clue. "Were you intending to present this as a fait accompli, or did you want our feedback?"

"Actually, I wanted your opinions on the matter. We'll put this to a vote," said Enigma, returning to the table. "We'll decide the fate of my little idea by casting votes. If the opinions of the council are in disagreement, I'll set this aside and pretend the idea never happened. Well?"

The group fell silent, thinking and considering the implications of Enigma's proposal. For several long moments there was silence in the room, as the members of the Council pondered. Finally, they looked at each other, nodded, and tapped in their votes using their PDAs. The computer embedded in the center of the table blinked as it sorted the votes, before displaying the results: 3 yes, 1 no. Enigma's project was approved.

"Go for it," said Mystery, speaking as the spokesman. "Just don't come to us with bad news, Kageyama," she said, emphasizing his name, and the unspoken point that though he had been forgiven and was now a member of AEGIS, not all had been forgotten.

"Ryoukai, AEGIS."

* * * * *

====================  
**SUBJECT: FORMATION OF INVADER HUNTING TEAM**  
**TO: All Council Members**  
**FROM: ENIGMA**  
====================

_In view of Increasing Invader activity, I believe it is now time for AEGIS to move from a defensive posture to an offensive status, from merely waiting for Invaders to strike but to hunt them down. As such, I propose the formation of a team of Invader Hunters, as it were, to track down and neutralize Invaders at all times. As many AEGIS bureaus are understaffed, I have compiled a list of four individuals, each who will not be missed too much by their respective bureaus. Enclosed with this memo are their personal data files, and reports on the progress of Dr. Kanatake's VGX-99 prototypes._

As Bureau 10 is organizing a conference for Gatekeepers in one month's time, this will be an opportunity to assemble these individuals together and to begin the formation of this team. A problem facing Gatekeepers and AEGIS efforts is the fact that Gatekeepers are restricted to their own Bureaus. By establishing a team with a worldwide focus and by giving them carte blanche to dispatch Invaders anywhere, this marks the beginnings of a shift in AEGIS policy.

It is my sincere belief that this team will be able to accomplish great things, mark a turning point in anti-Invader operations, and, with the new VGX-99 Gate Robots, will be a force to be reckoned with. 

  
"Unless this all blows up in my face," muttered Enigma to himself, rubbing his eyes before looking again at the flickering monitor. "Only time will tell. Only time will tell."

* * * * *

===========  
**ADDENDUM**  
===========

**Invader Hunting Team Profiles**

Team Leader  
**Name:** Jonathan Mark David  
**Date of Birth**: 7 February 1980.  
**Gender**: Male.  
**Height**: 178cm (5'11').  
**Weight**: 76kg (152 lbs.)  
**Hair Color**: Black, with silver highlights.  
**Eye Color**: Dark brown.  
**Blood Type**: O Positive.  
**Nationality**: Malaysian.  
**Gate Ability**: Gate of Life.  
**Assignment**: AEGIS Bureau 4, Interception Operations Division (Staff Member).  
**Rating**: Level 2 Gatekeeper.  
**AEGIS Rank**: Lieutenant (2nd).  
**Callsign**: Compass.  
**Preferred Weapons**: Imitation Gate Cell phones; H&K USP 9mm; H&K MP5N 9mm; H&K G36 5.56mm.

**Assistant Team Leader:**  
**Name:** Aaron Moore.  
**Date of Birth**: 16 April 1984.  
**Gender**: Male.  
**Height**: 170cm (5'8").  
**Weight**: 72kg (144 lbs).  
**Hair Color**: Light Brown.  
**Eye Color**: Dark Blue.  
**Blood Type**: AB Positive.  
**Nationality**: Canadian.  
**Gate Ability**: Gate of Time and Space.  
**Assignment**: AEGIS Bureau 1, Interception Team 1-2 (Assistant Captain).  
**Rating**: Level 3 Gatekeeper.  
**AEGIS Rank**: Agent (1st Class).  
**Callsign**: Timekeeper.  
**Preferred Weapons**: Glock Model 25 10mm; H&K MP5K 9mm; Reversed-edge Katana, Imitation Gate Cell phones, AEGIS Laptop.

**Team Members:**

**Name:** Ayane Isuzu.  
**Date of Birth**: 29/07/1984.  
**Gender**: Female.  
**Height**: 146 cm (4' 10").  
**Weight**: 44kg (88lbs.).  
**Hair Color**: Black.  
**Eye Color**: Dark brown/Hazel.  
**Blood Type**: A Positive.  
**Nationality**: Japanese.  
**Gate Ability**: Gate of Whirlwind.  
**Assignment**: AEGIS Bureau 9 (Unassigned to any Interception Team).  
**Rating**: Level 2 Gatekeeper.  
**AEGIS Rank**: Agent (1st Class).  
**Callsign**: Shippuu.  
**Preferred Weapons**: Imitation Gate Cell phones, AEGIS Laptop.

**Name:** Minerva Taylor.  
**Date of Birth**: 2 June 1986.  
**Gender**: Female.  
**Height**: 5'5".  
**Weight**: 100 pounds.  
**Hair Color**: Black, with purple highlights.  
**Eye Color**: Yellow.  
**Blood Type**: A Negative.  
**Nationality**: American.  
**Gate Ability**: Gate of Illusions.  
**Assignment**: AEGIS Bureau 1, Interception Team 1-1 (Team Member).  
**Rating**: Level 3 Gatekeeper.  
**AEGIS Rank**: Agent (3rd Class).  
**Callsign**: Sorceress.  
**Preferred Weapons**: Imitation Gate Cell phones, kitchen knife, hand-to-hand, any musical instrument that could conceivably used for offensive purposes.

* * * * *

_To be continued..._

  


* * * * *

Notes:

Well, here's the Prologue of GK02, and here's to hoping that this story will progress better that my other stories, or my performance as a moderator for debates...but I'm getting sidetracked. ^_^**;;** If this fic seems confusing at some points, don't worry, I'm going to expand on everything in sucessive Chapters. If however, response isn't good, I migh decide to kill this fic. We'll see.

Some may notice that I now have four fics posted on FF.net, all unfinished...rest assured I'm busy working on them, but it'll be slow going. I find it helpful to have several projects going on at one time: what I do is I'll focus on one fic ntill I'm nearly burned out and lack ideas, and then I'll take a break and switch to another fic, giving me time to rest my brain. Also, my A-Levels are coming soon, so I'll probably have to put some (okay, perhaps all) of my fics on hold, but we'll cross that bridge when we get there. ^_^


	3. Chapter 1

**Notes: **And here comes Chapter 1 of Gatekeepers 02. It took a while to write, and a few false starts, but anyway, here it is! I hope you all will enjoy it, and don't forget to drop me a line! 

**Disclaimer:** Please refer to the Intro Notes for the disclaimer. 

**

Chapter 1: The Gathering 

****September 2nd, 2002**. 

**AEGIS Bureau 4,  
Singapore. **

"Look, I said I was sorry already about your dad's car!" exclaimed a junior AEGIS officer plaintively, looking at a young woman with a hurt look. "It's not _my_ fault that the Invaders blew up the carpark before I got out. Don't you have insurance?" He sighed and paused to check his AEGIS No.3 uniform one more time: light blue short-sleeved shirt with epaulets and flapped pocktes, dark blue pants, black shoes, name tag, and crimson lanyard worn on the left side. 

"IDIOT!" shouted the girl, grabbing the nearest object, a clipboard, and bringing it down on his head with full force. "My father's blaming me for it! I'm grounded because of you! I should never have let you borrow that car!" 

"OW! Stop hitting me! Please! Onegai!" screamed her victim, fending off the blows as best as he could, and trying not to get his uniform ruined. The Chairman of AEGIS Bureau 4 sighed in frustration as he looked at Stephanie Liang, Team Leader of Interception Team 4-1 and 2nd Lt. Jonathan David of the Bureau 4 Operations Division. "Excuse me, but what exactly is going on here?" he demanded. 

"This idiot got my car destroyed!" snarled Stephanie. "How am I supposed to explain that to my parents?" 

"Well, AEGIS could-" _THWAPTHWAPTHWAPTHWAPTHWAP!_ "OWWWW! Stop that! Doesn't our friendship count for anything?" 

"I don't think AEGIS would want to foot the bill," sighed the Chairman. "At the most, maybe we could give them that Toyota in the back?" 

"Sir! That's my car!" exclaimed Jon in a panicked tone. "I only left it there because one of my mechanic friends was supposed to do a tune-up on it. Don't give it to her! Nobody touches my panda hatchback!" 

"Well, you won't need it for a while. There's some news. An international conference is being held in New York, and Bureau Four has been asked to send several representives. You'll be representing Bureau 4, Jon." 

"Who else is going?" 

"Well, we would send Stephanie, since she _is_ the team leader, but she can't go. You're it. Besides, you're already an officer in Operations, and among all our Gatekeepers you _do_ have the nescessarry experience, seniority and skills required for an international conferance." 

"Riiiight," muttered Jon. "When is it?" 

"Next week. You have five days to prepare, one day to travel and one day before the conference starts to get adjusted to jet-lag. Your travel documents have already been prepared, and we've made arrangements for accommodation." 

"Why does this idiot get to go?" growled Steph, shooting daggers at him with her eyes. 

"Because he's the one who's a staff member of the Operations Division, he's older than you and you have your exams next week. When he leaves, you will also be able to use his car, at least until you get your insurance settled and buy your new car. Now, try not to kill him. I'll let you handle this matter any way you want, using your discretion as a Team Captain." 

"Chief!" protested Jon loudly. "Help me!" he begged, as Stephanie advanced upon him with a dangerous glint in her eyes. 

"On second thoughts, we need him alive and well, so Captain, Lieutenant, please stop this behavior and come with me. We're late for the After-Action Report, and Lieutenant, you are supposed to be conducting the analysis." 

"Oh alright," grumbled Steph, still glaring at Jon. 

_Why couldn't I have an easier job?_ wondered the Chairman to himself. 

**September 8th, 2002. **

New York, United Staes of America.  
A video game arcade, in a shopping mall somewhere. 

Aaron Moore smiled triumphantly as he soundly defeated his opponent. The teenager who had challenged him to a a battle on Myogi was obviously inexperienced, as only novices battled on the Myogi track. More experienced drivers like himself honed their skills on tougher courses such as Akagi, and scorned challegers who challenged them on such easy tracks. 

"He wasn't even worth my time," he smirked, glancing at his display which now showed him having a total of 198430 points. "No one can beat me on Myogi - my car's just too fast." 

"How about a battle then?" suggested a voice. Aaron looked up tp see a young man, smilling slightly behind amber-tinted glasses. "If you're up to it, I'd like to challenge you to a race on Myogi counter-clockwise," he said, inserting coins into the arcade machine, before leaning over and inserting coins into Aaron's machine. "My treat. After all, you appear to be quite good with that RX-7 FD of yours." 

"You're really dumb," said Aaron looking sideways at his challenger. "Most of us _experienced_ racers don't race on Myogi, it's only for novices. Unless you want to lose?" 

"Just get ready to drive," said his opponent, settling into his seat, as the screen showed two cars: a silver Mazda Enfini RX-7 FD3SV Spirit-R, and a white-and-black Toyota AE86 Treuno GT-APEX. Aaron smirked. _This is too easy. No one uses an old family sedan like that. My RX-7 will beat him easily._ His brows narrowed as he glanced at his opponent's map display. _He's using the paper cup instead of the map display? That's stupid, and especially in a nighttime rain battle. And what a weird screen name: JON80._ Beside him, the challenger thought, _Okay, just like how I do it at home. Try not to spill the water, and I should be fine._

_Three... _

Aaron tensed, flooring the throttle, while JON80 (as he began thinking of his challenger) leaned back in an almost relaxed position... 

_Two..._

_One..._

Aaron was focused on the track ahead of him, but still underestimated his opponent's capabilities. After all, he was in a modern 4th-Generation of the Mazda RX-7 sports car, while JON80 was using a car 18 years old. There was no way he could win. 

_**GO!**_

The two cars shot off like runners released from the starting block. To his surprise, Aaron found that the Treuno AE86 took the lead in the first few seconds, edging a few scant meters in the front of him, before the FD's more powerful engine kicked in. Aaron smirked as he pulled ahead easily, leaving the Treuno in his wake, an ever shrinking image in his rearview mirror. Coming up to the first bend he turned the steering wheel left and applied the brakes, beginning a drift... 

...when the AE86 screamed round the bend, right on his tail. Aaron gasped, glancing up at his display. The advantage counter now showed he was leading by only 5 meters, as the Treuno followed him through the bend. Quickly shifting his gears he put another burst of speed, trying to get away from the other car, and suceeded in pulling away, only to find that the Treuno had caught up to him another bend again. As the bend opened into a long downhill strech of road, Aaron smirked to himself. 

_You may be good at the corners, but this is where I increase my lead. This is a downhill slope, and my RX-7 has more power than you have in that crummy old sedan._ His smirk broadened into a shit-eating grin, as he added, _You're mine._

Beside him, the corners of JON80's mouth turned up as he regarded the FD3S increasing its lead, shaking his head slightly, as the FD3S speed ahead of him he began his downhill run, smiling when he saw his speedometer indicate his increasing speed. As the FD3S reached the bottom of the slope, there was one sharp corner that it had to turn, before the track sloped uphill. As it neared the corner, JON80 smiled and turned the wheel hard to the right, pressing both the gas pedal and the brakes, relaxing the gas pedal a bit but maintaining his RPM and playing with the brakes to keep his car under control as he induced an oversteer, causing the car to drift. Aaron had misjudged the corner, and the RX-7 slammed into the guardrail and the side of the mountain, losing speed and fishtailing. As he brought the car back to control and began to pick up speed, the Treuno performed a perfect braking drift, sliding downhill at 188 kilometers per hour before shooting forward effortlessly. 

Aaron cursed as he glanced at his speedometer, which showed a speed of 156 km/h that picked up slowly. Ahead the Treuno began running the uphill portion of the track, JON80 drifting through each turn like a pro. Aaron gritted his teeth and drove determinedly on, overtaking the Trueno half-way through the second lap. With one lap to go, Aaron tried to increase his lead, but despite his best efforts, it was to no avail; he would lose the Treuno on the straightaways, but then the Toyota would be hugging his rear on the corners. 

On the third lap,as they came down the final slope before the uphill, Aaron pulled his steering wheel hard to the right and drifted through the sharp turn. Behind him, the Treuno's popup headlamps illuminated his rearview mirror, as it came right behind him. Aaron gritted his teeth, taking the inside lane to prevent the Treuno from overtaking him. As they reached the corner the Trueno disappeared from behind his reaview mirror. 

_Where did it go?_

He was answered when the Treuno shot ahead in front of him, taking the lead and drifting smoothly through the corners. The RX-7 tried to catch up, but as with most drivers, Aaron had braked when he entered the turn, as a result exiting the corner at 150 km/h. The Trueno had blazed past him at the steady speed of 180 km/h, and disappeared around the corner; from the looks of it, it seemed the driver hadn't bothered to brake or downshift at all. Aaron struggled to catch up, but by the time the Trueno was in his sight his car suddenly slowed down, and the words "You Lose..." appeared on his screen. JON80 smirked broadly, as he looked at his screen. Aaron glaced at the display and gasped again. JON80's total tally of points was 344321 points and his car had also been heavily customized and upgraded. As he continued looking at the screen, the words "Racer Level Up! Racer Level 10!" flashed on JON80's screen, and he smiled triumphantly. 

"Not bad, eh? Well, that was entertaining, but I'm afraid I have to go. Keep practicing, and don't look down at a hachi roku. See ya," he said, running a hand thourgh his silver streaked hair as he exited the game. The machince hummed for a few moments and ejected a card with a manga-style drawing of a young man leaning against a Toyota AE86 Trueno GT. Tucking his card into a side pocket of his gray cargo pants he walked off, hands jammed into the pockets of his blue windbreaker. Aaron scowled, and glaced back at his screen. _Damn. How could I have lost?_ Angrily inserting more tokens, he thought to himself, _The next time we meet, I'll wipe that smirk off your face._

**September 9th, 2002. **

New York, United States.  
AEGIS Bureau 1 HQ. 

Since the founding of AEGIS in 1945, the Regency Hotel in New York has been the center of AEGIS' operations, the seat of High Command. As such, it was a logical place to hold an important conference. As well as being the AEGIS' headquarters, the building also doubled as the UN Building. That meant that the UN building was actually more secure than its outside appearances, as the best of AEGIS' forces were right underneath it. If terrorists tried to assault the building, or Invaders, they would find two lines of defense, making the headquarters of the world's largest committee very secure indeed. 

That didn't mean Aaron Moore had to like it one bit. 

His dark blue eyes narrowed and his face scowled as he remembered a saying, the Rogue Warrior's 6th Commandment of SpecWar - "Thou hast not to like it, thou hast to do it." 

He didn't have to like anyone at the conference. He just had to show up. 

He continued thinking that as his eyes swept the conference hall, where thirty-two years ago, AEGIS Branch Commanders had debated the threat in Japan, and had made their decision to deny the Far East Branch reinforcements, citing "cost-effectiveness" issues. He snorted softly, thinking back on the matter. Office politics had almost destroyed them all. 

As he continued looking around, he mentally catalogued the faces he knew among Gatekeepers present, referring discreetly to his PDA for the identities of those he did not know. James Wilson Masters III, Captain of Interception Team 1-1 was there, talking with one of his lackeys. Francine Allumange, representing the French contingent, was quietly talking with Jack Shadow, while most of the Bureau Chairmen were in quiet discussion amongst themselves. _Nothing really out of the ordinary_, he thought, as someone moved in the corner of his eye. _Wait, who's that?_ He turned to look at the person who had settled beside him a few feet away, leaning against the wall and quietly observing the proceedings with a small smile. He wore a navy-blue military-style overcoat, dark blue pants, black shoes - which, Aaron could see, were officer's dress shoes - and glasses. Light reflected off the gold Lieutenant's bars pinned to his lapels, and a red beret covered his head. His eyes were obscured by the amber-tinted glasses, but Aaron couldn't shake the feeling that he felt this person was familiar, as the stranger turned to face him, removing his beret. 

"Well, hello there," he smiled, light glinting off his glasses. "Quite a lot of people here, aren't there?" He smiled some more, and pushed his hair back from his face, which, Aaron thought, was unnecessary, given that the lieutenant (if that was what he really was) had short hair, streaked with silver. Suddenly, something clicked in Aaron's mind. 

"You!" exclaimed Aaron, recognizing the man instantly. 

"Umm, me," replied the person. "Do I know you?" he asked, confusion etched across his face as he folded his beret and tucked it in the shoulder flap of his coat. 

"You imbecile," snarled Aaron. "You don't remember me?" 

"Should I?" asked the man, who paused, blinking. "Wait a minute, you seem kind of familiar...have we met?" 

"You don't remember me, do you," growled Aaron. "You were that guy who beat me yesterday in the arcade, remember?" 

A look of comprehension suddenly came upon the man's face, and he began laughing softly. "Oh, so you're that guy in the red FD3S," he chuckled. "My friends will get a kick out of listening how I beat an FD using just a hachi roku. Of course, it _did_ happen in the anime but still..." 

"I still can't believe you beat me," muttered Aaron sourly. "And with that crazy trick you pulled, and with that old car. That's shouldn't be possible." 

"Hey, if you want, I could teach you some of my tricks," grinned the man. "By the way, I don't think we were ever introduced. I'm Jon David. Who are you, and what's your Gate? 

"We meet, and the first thing you ask is what my Gate is?" asked Aaron incredulously. "You aren't even going to ask me what I'm doing here?" 

"Well, I've seen stranger things," replied Jon, smiling. For some reason, that look infuriated Aaron, as Jon continued, "We're probably here for the same reason, and as for the Gate, you _are_ a Gatekeeper, right?" 

"Yeah," scowled Aaron. "Nice to see you care. I'm Aaron Moore, Gatekeeper of Time and Space, callsign "Timekeeper", with 1-2. You?" 

"I'm Jon David, a Lieutenant in the Ops Division, callsign "Compass," replied Jon, as Aaron began to snicker. "What?" 

"How did you get that callsign?" snickered Aaron. Jon shook his head and sighed deeply. 

"I have a bad sense of direction. It's nothing to make fun off. Besides, there are worse things to be called that _that_." 

"Oh, alright," replied Aaron, trying to hold in his laughter. "So, you're here from which Bureau?" 

"Singapore, I'm with Bureau Four. Why?" he asked, seeing a shocked face appear on Aaron's face. 

"I've heard that one of Bureau 4's agents was nuts, but I didn't realize how nuts until just now. I'm doomed," moaned Aaron, while Jon scowled slightly. 

"Hey, I'm not _that_ crazy." 

"Oh yeah? Between you and this conference my life will surely be hell. Wait that means you're-" 

"-Yes, I'm the crazy agent," replied Jon calmly, mentally kicking himself for his slip. "Come on, it's not so bad, I hear they're having a First Gundam marathon tonight at the Village. You want to come along? We can go for coffee after that, maybe look at the stars, jam a bit, sing old songs - y'know, jazz, the blues..." 

Aaron merely groaned silently, as Jon chuckled and said, "Nah, just kidding. So what brings you here? You're a team leader?" 

"No, I'm the assistant. My team leader's in the hospital, appendicitis. Besides, apart from her I have seniority over all the other members of my team, so I was sent here. Well, rank has it's privileges: I'm staying at a fancy hotel. Sweet!" smirked Aaron. 

"So that's why you're here," muttered Jon, looking at the assorted Gatekeepers. "Do you know any of them?" 

"Wouldn't you? You _are_ a member of the Operations Division, right?" 

Jon glared at him, saying, "So sue me, I didn't have enough time to read over everyone's profile and memorize their names. Besides, you're the guy with the PDA," he huffed. 

"Okay, well you see that guy there, the one with the suit? Brown hair, blue eyes? That's James Wilson Masters III, the captain of 1-1, Gate of Fire. I've had a few run-ins with him a while ago-" 

"This wouldn't be another infamous prank war or issues that young gwailo always have, would it?" 

"Don't interrupt. Anyhow, he rubs me the wrong way. I don't really like him. And don't insult me, or call me be insults." 

"Wouldn't dream of it. Hey, who's that girl over there? Long blonde hair in a ponytail, blue blazer, black miniskirt, black shoes, white socks, talking to Masters." 

Aaron squinted at the girl, before nodding to himself. "That's his Number One-" 

"Number One?" _His most precious person?_

"First Officer, second-in-command - don't you ever watch Star Trek? Captain Picard calls Commander Riker "Number One" all the time. And don't interrupt. That's Natalie Reynolds, Gate of Lightning. She and Masters seem to get along pretty well. Some say," and here Aaron's voice dropped to a conspirational whisper, "that they're in a relationship." He chuckled. 

"That's none of our business," replied Jon tersely, as a girl walked in front of him. His eyes glanced over her, then did a double take. "Oh my God," he whispered hoarsely. "Mi-chan?" 

"Are you okay?" asked Aaron, looking at him. "You look like you've seen a ghost." 

"Maybe I have," muttered Jon, his voice low. "Who's that girl who just passed us by? Black denim jacket, black combat pants, black boots, black t-shirt with purple ankh on it, shoulder-length black hair with purple highlights." 

"Where?" 

"There, 2 o'clock of us," said Jon, pointing at the girl. "For your information, an ankh is an ancient Egyptian symbol - it's supposed to mean life, or something like that." 

Aaron narrowed his eyes, glancing at the PDA, before looking up. "That's Minerva Taylor, callsign Sorceress, Gate of Illusions. She's a member of 1-1, though from it says here, she doesn't get along very well with them. It seems she has a reputation for being a loose cannon. Oh, and she's rated as a Level-3 Gatekeeper". Aaron looked at his PDA again, before glancing back at her. "She has an unhappy past." 

"Don't we all?" commented Jon softly. "What is it?" 

"Her mom died when she was young. I'm trying to acess her psych reports, but it's blocked. My PDA can't acess this stuff, and I don't have the necessary clearance for those. What's so important about her anyway? 

" "Never mind, it's nothing. Why are you so chatty about this girl, but not about her boss?" 

"'Cuz she's cute, and he isn't," grumbled Aaron good-naturedly. "Hmmmn, according to records, she's just an Agent 3rd Class, so what is she doing here? Most of the Gatekeepers here are Lieutenants or Captains." 

"Yeah, well, it seems that none of them are in uniform, so you can't really tell," retorted Jon, brushing the lapels of his coat. "Besides, almost all of the Lieutenants and Captains are Taichous and Assistant-Taichous, not AEGIS commissioned Chuiis, Shouis or Taiis, so they wouldn't have a uniform. There are a number of AEGIS personnel around though." 

"Speaking of which, what's with the coat and beret? Don't tell me you're wearing an AEGIS dress uniform under that coat. That would make you inconsistent. Not to mention tacky. And don't go around spouting strange talk at me," grumbled Aaron. 

"Well, actually, I am wearing an AEGIS unifrom," replied Jon neutrally. "My Chairman thought it would be better if I wore a uniform to come here. More effect. As for the last bit you said, you don't have any authority over me, so you can't order me around." He looked to the left, his expression somewhat pensive. "Aren't they taking too long to get started? They're wasting time." 

"Perhaps," agreed Aaron, as James Masters III picked up a microphne. "ATTENTION. THE MEETING WIL BEGIN IN ONE MINUTE FROM NOW. PLEASE GET READY. THANK YOU." 

"Well, we'd better get going then," said Jon, tugging at his coat. He removed the beret from its fold and wore it again, unbuttoning his coat and draping it over his left arm. Smoothing his AEGIS No.1 uniform (light blue shirt, dark blue tie, dark blue jacket and pants, crimson lanyard) he walked briskly to his designated seat, but not before picking up an attaché case beside him, humming softly under his breath. Sliding smoothly into his seat he removed a pen and legal pad from the attaché case, placing his beret on a spot just in front of his legal pad. Leaning forward in his chair he flexed his fingers and adopted a thoughtful expression, steepling his fingers while placing his elbows on the table, light glinting off his amber spectacles. Looking around, he frowned as he recognised several faces from here and there. _Hmm. Aisha Nadir, Bureau 6. I don't really know anything about her. Jack Shadow and Francine Allumange, Bureau 2. I've heard that they're pretty good. And there's Garry Khoo from 8_, he thought, raising his hand in greeting to the Australian who waved at him, before returning to his previous position, seated next to the Bureau 2 delegates. His gaze fell on a Japanese schoolgirl wearing a red coat, and his eyes narrowed. _Well, well. Shippuu no Ukiya Ayane. Looks like this conference will be very interesting. I can't wait to see how this'll turn out._

In his heart however, Jon felt a worried feeling, a premonition of something, though he was not sure what. All he knew was that there was probably more to this meeting than what met the eye. There was also something else, but he couldn't put his finger on what gave him this feeling of unease. Shaking his head, he turned to look at Gregory Johnson, Bureau 1's Chairperson, as he stood in front of a large projection screen, and sighed softly. 

_Let's get on with it_. 

"Ladies and Gentlemen, Delegates from the Bureaus of AEGIS..." 

After several hours, Jon had come to the conclusion that the meeting had been a waste of time. 

_Ah well, it's almost my turn now. I'd never have thought they'd use a random selection to determine the order of things though. Well, somewhere in the middle is better than always coming out last like that black 32_, he thought, as he returned his focus to the meeting. 

The conferance had started out well, but it had eventually degressed into mud-slinging and finger-pointing among the representives from the various Bureaus that made up AEGIS. He groaned softly and massaged his temples, before taking his wallet out from his pocket and removing a small photo. Looking at the photo for a moment, he closed his eyes, slipping the photo back into his wallet before opening them and looking at his legal pad, where he recorded his notes. Shaking his head, he looked up to see Aisha Nadir of Bureau 6 rise. 

"The whole problem of why there are Invaders is because of the decadent West," she said, her words filled with disgust. Thus, i see no reason why the Western Bureaus of AEGIS should not intensify their efforts against the Invaders - which, sadly, seem lacking." 

"Excuse me!" exclaimed Aaron, jumping to his feet, his face furious. "Are you saying that we're just sitting on our butts here?" 

"In a word? Yes." 

Despite the situation, Jon smiled inwardly as Aaron sputtered, but only for a moment. Shaking his head again, he glanced at Minerva Taylor, who was seated with the Bureau 1 delegation, taking note of her expression. Her arms were folded, and she had an angry expression on her face, as she glared balefully at Aisha through golden eyes. Jon pursed his lips as he regarded her carefully, frowning. _She doesn't seem too pleased being here, that's probably why she's glaring at Aisha I wouldn't be surprised if she-_

"What about you? What are _you_ people doing about this then?" snarled a very pissed off Minerva Taylor. 

-_jumped up and snarled at her. Scary voice she has there_, thought Jon, wincing. _Just like _her. _But where the hell did she get those golden eyes?_

"It is hardly my fault if you infidels fail to act responsively enough," snorted Aisha derisively, ignoring the glares that Aaron and Minerva threw at her. "Say what you will, but the evidence-" 

"Shows that you arabs are a bunch of barbarians!" shouted Minerva. 

"_What_?!" asked Aisha, fury etched on her face. "How dare you call us barbarians!" 

"I _DO_ dare!" retorted Minerva sharply, as James Masters tried ineefectually to get her to sit down. "Why don't you just take your high and mighty opinions and-" 

"Urusai," muttered a soft, quiet voice with a Japanese accent. 

"What did you say?" asked Minerva dangerously, turning to glare at Isuzu Ayane. 

"She said "It's really noisy"," offered Garry Khoo. 

"Did I ask you?" snapped Minerva. 

"Ms. Taylor, that's enough," interrupted Chairman Johnson. "Despite whatever Ms. Nadir said, you should not have reacted so rudely-" 

"I'll what what I please!" 

"_Urusai_," growled Ayane, pissed that almost everyone was ignoring her. "This bickering is pointless. I came all the way here for _this_? I could have stayed in Japan and been of more use there, instead of enduring this pointless debate." 

"You and me both, girl," agreed Aaron, brushing back his brown hair. 

"Permission to speak freely?" asked Jon, his glasses glinting. "Or will Bureau 4 have to remain silent for the rest of this conference?" 

"The chair recognises Bureau 4's delegate, Lt. Jonathan David." 

"Thank you Sir. With all due respect to all present, including egos which I'll trod on heavily," began Jon, leaning back with his arms folded, "much of the blame for the Invaders' continue presence can be leveled at several persons in this room." He paused, and his glasses reflected little flashes of light. "Everyone, I'd like you all to turn and point your fingers at yourselves. If you want to blame people, that's where you should start." 

"What do you mean, that's where we should start?" demanded James Masters. "Why point our fingers at ourselves?" 

"It should be pretty self-explanatory, Mr. Masters," replied Jon calmly, reverting to his previous position. "What it means is that the reason the Invaders continue to exist is because of incompetance on the part of Gatekeepers worldwide. I should know, I've seen it many times in my analysis." 

The room reacted with shock and outrage, the delegates and Gatekeepers murmuring furiously, while Ayane looked at him curiously, her face thoughtful. Aisha was furious, to say the least. 

"And I suppose you have done better?" she sneered. "You're only some AEGIS desk lackey. Desk workers can talk, but they don't go and fight Invaders, they only stay back and second-guess the data." 

"She has a point," said James Masters, looking pointedly at Jon. "After all, you aren't a member of a Gatekeeper team, you're just the Bureau 4 delegate, and desk jockey at that." 

Jon narrowed his eyes, his face hardening, light flashing off his glasses. "It seems I didn't introduce myself propoerly, Captain Masters," he said, his voice taking on a cold tone. "I'm AEGIS Second Lieutenant Jonatahn Mark David, Serial Number D462318, Bureau 4 Operations Division member. I'm the Bureau 4 delegate-" 

"That's very impressive, but you can't back what you said with proof," sneered Aisha, interrupting him. "The AEGIS employees in Bureau 6 are much better persons that you - they wouldn't say what they couldn't support." 

Jon merely looked at her, his stare so strong that she began to falter, as his glasses flashed dangerously. "What about you? You're supposedly one of Bureau 6's top Gatekeepers. You're 20 years old, and you were a member since 17, that's three years. You only have 3 years of experince." He paused, and continued, "I'm not just an AEGIS 2nd Lieutenant, I'm also a Gatekeeper. I joined AEGIS in 1995 - I've been a Gatekeeper and AEGIS Agent for seven years. That's more than any of you lot of teenagers. I've spent the past 4 years as a member of the Ops Division. Everytime the Teams go out, I'm right there to analyze what goes wrong, and let me tell you, a _lot_ goes wrong!" 

"Even so, you're still just a desk worker now. How do you know what we go through? Times change," retorted Aisha coldly, while Jon sighed. 

"Because of this," he said, taking off his uniform jacket and rolling up his left sleeve, displayng his left arm to the assembled delegates. An ugly scar ran down his arm, 5 inches long, terminating just short of his elbow. Turning over his left forearm, the Gatekeepers and delegates saw a number of pale marks crisscrossing his arm, the pale white constrasting with his tanned skin. He rolled his sleeve down, and reached for his jacket, putting it back on. "Don't assume you know everything, child," he said. "I've seen my friends injured, the death and destruction that occurs during an Invader attack, and the invisible scars that remain. How do you tell a child that his parents won't be coming back home, because you killed them? Or a mother that you killed her son, but it's okay because he was a monster? 

"If you want to talk about tactics, then that's my area of expertise you're walking into. How many of you actually have a plan that goes beyond the simple "Stall-until-we-find-and-kill-the-leader" plan that's been used worldwide? Hmmm? Any takers?" 

"Stand down Lieutenant," ordered Bureau 1's Chairman. "Your conduct is unbecoming that of an AEGIS officer, especially a four-year veteran." 

"Yes Sir," replied Jon, sitting down, albeit somewhat reluctantly. Evidently he felt brave enough to challenge Gatekeepers, but was still a part of AEGIS hierachy, and as such, did not dare to defy a Bureau Chairman. That didn't mean he was pleased with it though. 

"_Now that we are more settled, perhaps it would be better if Lt. David was to proceed with his report of Bureau 4's status, which he was supposed to present, unless there are any interruptions?_" asked Johnson, looking pointedly at Jon. Don't make any more scenes, his gaze warned. Jon nodded, and stood up. He slid his legal pad away, clearing a space in front of him, and pulled out a laptop from under his seat, plugging the laptop into an I/O port on the table and booting it up. Tapping a few keys on his laptop's keyboard, he looked at the projection screen as the screen shifted from the AEGIS badge to a black-and-green wireframe, mirroring his laptop's display. 

"Ladies and Gents, I'm representing Bureau 4. You all know me as the Gatekeeper who stood up just now to shout at you all - now that that's done, I'm moving on to my report which I was supposed to deliver. 

"When the Invaders were first encountered in 1945, up to the Tokyo Encounter in 1970, they were mainly inorganic artificial lifefroms, created by a Dark Gatekeeper, according to recorded testimony of one of the leaders of the Invaders, Reiji Kageyama. Invaders appeared in two types: gray-suited Invaders, the grunt forces, and red-suited Fukuoka-type Invaders, which could combine with other Invaders - these were the equivalent of squad leaders. When killed, the Invaders would disssolve, reducing to either green or red crystals, depending on their type. The Invader at that time regenerated slowly, and fed on the negative emotions and desires of humans: greed, anger, jealousy, hatred, and so on." 

"How could the Invaders feed on human desires if they were machines?" asked Francine Allumange, speaking in an American accent, lookng confused. "I always thought the Invaders were lifeless." 

"Beats me," shrugged Jon, turning back to the display. "Now, as you can see, post-1970, Invader activity declined dramatically. Although there isn't any confirmation, Intelligence believes this to be because the Invaders, apart from feeding on negative human emotions, needed to be created by Negative Gatekeepers. Although this hasn't been proven as well, it is also believed that the Invaders were merely biding their time, waiting untill they had sufficient numbers, before proceeding with their goal of overtaking the world. How true that view is, remains to be seen." 

Jon turned to the screen, tapping a few keys on his laptop's keyboard. The Screen shifted, displaying a video file that began playing. "This is one of the few bits of footage that we managed to recrod of the Invaders," said Jon, his expression grim. "This recording was taken by a Gatekeeper of Bureau 4 who had a penchant for AV - while I don't approve of her obseesion, this footage was deemed rather useful." 

On screen, it showed a number of youths cornering a man in an alleyway. As one of the youths advanced on the man, the man's body suddenly split apart, and something pulled itself out of the body as if discarding a useless skin. In seconds, before the youths was not a man, but a red-suited Invader. Before the Gatekeepers could react, tentacles shot out from the Invader, snaring a passing gang member and plunging into him. Within scant seconds, the red-suited Invader had created a gray-suited Invader, replicating itself. Before the Invaders could take another step, they were shot with a clay-like substance, before being destroyed by an Imitiation Gate Cellphone. The image faded, and Jon turned to adress the GAtekeepers. 

"As you all can see, the Invaders have now gained the ability to replicate themselves; also, they have become semi-organic, which means that conventional weapons have a greater sucesss rate than before. This also means however, that combating Invaders is a bit more serious now, as many, if not all of the Invaders, were once human." 

_Damn_, thought Enigma, observing the proceedings. _I didn't intend for him to drop this bombshell like that_, _I_ _was supposed to brief the Bureau Chiefs privately. Damn._

"Are you saying that when we kill Invaders, we're killing our fellow humans?" asked Aisha. "That is murder, and murder-" 

"Is forbidden by the Bible, most religions, and the Koran, although many in the Middle East choose to forget about that," interjected Jon, his expression hidden by his glasses. "Murder, as defined by common law, consists of the actus reas and the mens rea elements, both which must be porven in a court of law for a conviction," he added, with a hint of contempt in his voice. "May I continue please? As I was saying, some of the Invaders were once human; which means that yes, we may be killing our fellow humans." Jon's amber glasses glinted, and his voice became colder as he said, "No one is truly innocent, Ms. Nadir. Keep that in mind." 

"By joining the Invaders," spoke up Ayane softly, "they forsook their ties with humanity, and became traitors to their kind. The penalty for betrayal is death, is it not?" 

"Well said, Isuzu-san," replied Jon, nodding in agreement. 

"There is something I'm concerned about: are we allowed to kill?" asked Garry Khoo. "It's all fine and well for you to say this, Lieutenant, but does AEGIS policy have to say about this matter?" 

Jon sighed, pushing his glasses up, and said tiredly, "Please refer to the AEGIS Handbook, Chapter 5, Subsection 6: Rules of Engaement. It states there that Gatekeepers can attack once the target is confirmed, and they are allowed the use of deadly force to protect themselves-" 

"Chuui, the use of deadly force applies only to AEGIS personnel." 

Jon blinked, looking at Ayane who was calmly perusing her laptop screen, and for the first time that day he actualy seemed off-balance. "Er, right...." 

"Also," she said, "AEGIS policy as stated in the handbook is very strict regarding civilian casualties. Specifically, the amount of civilian casualties considered accceptable is _zero_. It could be argued that Invader victims fall into this catergory." 

_I need a smoke. And a beer. Then I want to get even more wasted._ "Furthermore, AEGIS also maintains a policy of Gatekeepers adhering to the laws of their countries." Ayane paused, and Jon felt as if he was being skewered by her gaze. "It would appear that your argument is both impractical, and inethical, Chuui, as killing another person is a crime in most countries." 

_I really need that smoke._

"While I admit there are moral and ethical considerations," began Jon slowly, "I am more surprised that Gatekeepers are actually _defending_ the right of Invaders to exist. Plesae bear in mind that for Invaders to replicate, the subject must have the sufficient negative desires present; my personal view is good riddance, one less pest in the world. 

"The Invaders are a global menace. Like it or not, the Invaders are here, and they are coming, replicating themselves daily. If we just sit on our butts and wait for them to come to us, we have lost." Jon looked at each of the delegates, and said forcefully, "I say we _hunt them down_! Why should we remain in our supposedly secure bases, waiting for them to show themselves, and engage them on their terms? When we let them dictate the order of battle to us, we lose the intiative; we should take the fight to the Invaders on our terms, instead of sitting here passively!" 

It was at that moment that the Invader alert siren blared, and an announcement broadcast all over the base: "ATTENTION, CODE RED. ALL COMBAT PERSONEL REPORT FOR BRIEFING AT ONCE." 

_Me and my big mouth_, thought Jon sourly, his glasses doing little to hide his expression this time as he sat down. 

Aaron looked critically at Jon, thinking to himself, _What a pompus ass he is. And he's supposed to be an AEGIS officer? Some person he is._ Aaron shook his head, as the Bureau 1 Chairman stepped before the screen, which shifted, displaying a map of New York, with one area higlighted in red: Central Park. 

"We have a situation," he said unnessescarily, gesturing towards the map. "There is a large concentration of Invaders, located at Central Park. IPW reading has a value of greater than 300, which suggests that the Invaders have several fusion-forms in the area. Team 1-1 will leave to handle this matter, while we adjourn the meeting; if any Gatekeepers would like to come along,they are most welcome." 

"We'll go," said Francine Allumange, gesturing towards Jack Shadow and Garry Khoo. Both nodded in assent, their expressions eager. 

_Bloodthirsty fools_, thought Aaron sourly. Out loud, he said, "Hey Masters, you want me to come and pull your ass out of the fire again?" 

"If you want to help, fine, but don't get in my way," growled James Masters. "I still haven't forgiven you for that prank you pulled last year." 

"What prank?" asked Aaron, an all too-innocent look on his face. "I didn't do anything..." 

Jon shook his head, sighing, and raised his hand. "I'll go as well. Someone has to keep Mr. Moore here away from Capt. Masters." 

"Hey!" 

_Wonderful_, thought Enigma, peering at them. I haven't officially placed them together yet, and there are already signs of friction... 

**AEGIS Bureau 1, Vehicle Garage. **

"This is a bad idea," grumbled Aaron, as he seated himself in the front passenge seat of the black BMW 325i. Beside him, Jon turned and frowned, amber glasses glinting. 

"Don't start, please," he said, before craning his neck around to look behind, as Ayane and Minerva settled into the car. "Who put you two girls here?" 

"Someone had to show you the way," grumbled Mierva, "and Masters put me here." She brushed her long hair back, and added, "As for her, no one wanted to be in the same car with her, after she said something about being surrounded with bakaryo.... that's idiot, right?" 

"Hai," replied Ayane quietly. "Chuui, we should get going." 

"I know, I know, but I want to get the rest of the rush out of the way first," replied Jon, starting the car. He glanced to his right, and looked sheepish as he added, "Also, I don't really know how to drive an auto." 

"You can't drive? This is just great," muttered Minerva darkly. "First the choppers aren't working, so we have to take cars. Then, of all the people I have to guide-" 

"Fasten seatbelts please," interjected Jon smoothly, revving the engine. "I hope you all don't mind my driving." 

"-I have to end up with someone who can't dri-_aaahhhhhhHHHHHH!!!!_" 

"I _did_ say to fasten seatbelts," murmured Jon as he spun the car in a 180 degree turn, engine revving loudly. Now facing the tunnel's mouth, he waited as the rest of the cars left, James Master's Mercedes SLK leading. Shaking his head, he muttered, "If only they used manuals." 

"WHOOOOAAAA YEAHHHHHHHHH!" screamed Minerva. "BRING IT ON!!!" 

"" asked Jon amusedly, directing his question to Ayane. "" 

"" replied Ayane nocommitally. "" 

"Right on," grinned Jon. "Ladies and gents, fasten seatbelts please." 

"Can you do that again?" asked Minerva eagerly. 

"Think of this as real life "Fast and the Furious"," grinned Jon, listening to the engine, and fumbling with a CD jewel case. Removing the CD, he popped it into the CD player, and continued revving his engine as one of the tracks began playing. 

"Are we going yet?" asked Aaron, seeing the various cars ahead disappear. "Or will we just sit here, waiting for Armageddon and kingdom come?" 

"I never knew you read the book of Revelations," remarked Jon conversationnaly, as he released the brakes and gently stepped on the gas pedal. The BMW sprang forward smoothly, and as Jon's eyes focused forwards, taking in the gauges and what was up ahead, his left hand shot out......and slammed into the door. "OW!" 

"Are you _sure_ you can drive?" asked Aaron, as the car continued accelerating at it's sedate pace. Jon grimaced, and shook his head, sighing, "My bad. I forgot that this was an auto, and that I'm not sitting on the right. I miss my car." 

"Maybe you should let Ayane drive," remarked Minerva, as Jon merely leaned back and reached into an inside pocket of his jacket, removing a packet of ciggaretts and a lighter. Releasing the wheel, he took out a a smoke and lighted it, leaning back with his eyes closed. 

"Open your eyes! You need to look at the road!" shouted Aaron, as Jon took another long pull on his cig, before replacing his packet of ciggarettes and lighter, snuffing out his cancer stick, and throwing it out the window. Opening his eyes, he looked bemusedly at his passengers, as the tunnel entrance came into sight. "_Speed, Speed Lover, Countdown's over/ Running to win or die_-" he sang, stepping harder on the gas pedal. 

"I don't really want to die," muttered Aaron, glancing at Jon. As if he heard him, Jon reached over and fiddled with the CD player, settling on a different song. He leaned back, his face in a slight smile, as the song title scrolled across the tiny LCD screen: Running in the 90's. 

"Alright, let's see what this piece of sand can do," said Jon, to no one in particular. "Minerva, you tell me where to turn and all, okay?" he asked as they turned onto the main road. 

"Uhh, okay," she responded dubiously, and then, looking at the cars around, "How fast are you driving?" 

"Oh, only 70. That's pretty slow, all things considered - I can break that speed most of the time," remarked Jon casually, as the speedometer needle climbed to 90. Weaving through the trafic, he said, "Maybe I'm slipping up, but 90 here seems a bit faster than at home; I thought that a BMW 325 could accelerate faster than my panda hatch..." 

"You're driving at 90 miles an hour?" exclaimed Aaron. "Do you have some sort of perverted death wish?" 

"Nah, _Running in the nineties, is a new way I like to be / I'm just running in the nineties/ come on baby run to me /We are running in the nineties, is a new way to set me free / I'm just running in the nineties / yes I wanna know, yes I wanna see_," sang Jon, tapping his fingers in time with the music, ignoring his passengers, who were giving him odd looks except for Ayane, who was looking at her laptop (and ignoring everyone). 

_What kind of person is this? _thought Aaron and Minerva simulataneously. 

"{Lt., turn left at the next intersection.}" 

"{Roger.}" 

"{Now take a right turn-}" 

"HEY! I'm supposed to give instructions!" 

"{And another right turn.... turn left now.}" 

Aaron looked in the rearview mirror and frowned. _It's just my luck to get stuck with these oddballs. I shoulda realised there would be a catch for coming here. Even staying in a 5-star hotel can't make up for any of this._

"_What are you looking at, Canadian?_" growled Minerva, catching his eye. "What, you think you're better than me? Huh? Is that it?" 

"Yeah, I think I am," retorted Aaron, feeling his face flush. "After all, my Gate actually does something useful, not like yours which is only good for playing bad music!" 

"Oh yeah? You think you can take me down? Bring it on!" 

"Kids, settle down," said Jon tiredly. "Look, save your energy for the Invaders - Isuzu-san, how far away are we?" 

"{The entrance to the park is right ahead.}" 

"Thanks. Have you ever thought about becoming a- never mind, we're here. Everybody out," he ordered, as he brought the BMW to a smooth stop, shaking his head again. _I really dislike autos._ "Okay people, let's do our jobs so we can get back to the conference, finish it up, and so I can go home and pick up my paycheck." 

_Yeah, he's a real odball alright_, thought Aaron. _I wonder just how he ended up in AEGIS._

"Come on Canadian, or are you lost?" sneered Minerva as she dashed past him, heading into the fray. Aaron narrowed his eyes, and drew his Glock 25. Chambering a round and cocking the pistol, he turned and follwed Minerva, Jon and Ayane bringing up the rear. 

_I'll show you, girl_, thought Aaron grimly. _No one makes fun of us Canadians_. 

_I want a beer_," thought Jon, just before bringing his USP 9 up in a fluid motion and firing at an Invader that popped up in front of him. _Then, maybe I'll have another- DIE SCUM!_

_BANG!BANG!BANG!_

_God, I hate my job,_ thought Jon, eyes narrowed. 

_To be continued..._

**Notes:**

Well, how do you all like Gatekeepers 02? I had a few problems in trying to write this chapter: school, preparing for exams, getting ready... sigh. Ah well, at least it's out now. 

Props go out to Timekeeper for prereading, and also for g=bugging me to hurry up with the story; Sudo, on the IDX and Lonley Driver's forums, for being a nice guy to hang aorund with online; Black gargie, for being willing to listen to bits and pieces of this story; and last but not least, thanks to Sorceress of Blades, who created the charecters of Minerva Taylor and Aisha Nadir for me. Thanks kiddo! 

Also, the first two people who email me and give me their guesses as to what car Jon drives in Singapore, will get to be charecters! How about that? This contest is open to all - send in your entries folks! 

Now, as this is updated on the day of my second A-Levels paper, I'll be running off now. Wish me luck in my exams! If anyone wants to contact me, my contact details are up there in my profile. Well, that's it, nuthin' but love! See ya!


	4. Chapter 2

Author's Note: Well, after more than a year, here's the second chapter. But you all want to read it, and not look at my rant, right? ;; Right, right, there it is. 

Discalimer: Once again, Gatekeepers belongs to GONZO. I'm just borrowing it. The USP is property of Heckler & Koch, the M4A1 property of Colt USA. Various other weapons systems ad modifications are property of the designers and 3rd-party manufacturers. Now on with it.

**September 9th, 2002.  
New York City, United States of America. **

0735 Hours GMT  
1135 Hours Local Time

Part of Aaron Moore wondered what he had done in his brief life that was so bad to warrant spending a perfectly good morning like this, battling Invaders in New York's Central Park, side by side with a bunch of arrogant, troublesome Gatekeepers. The other part of him felt a thrill as adrenalin flowed through his system, sharpening his senses and reflexes.

It was just too bad that meant the stench of cordite seemed stronger than ever.

_BANG BANG BANG! BANG BANG BANG! CLICK!_

Cursing, Aaron ducked behind a park bench and ejected his Glock 25's spent clip, slapping in a fresh 10mm clip with the speed and ease borne of long practice. Behind him, he was dimly aware of a body landing beside him with a grunt and a cough.

"Well, fancy meeting you here, Mr. Moore," remarked AEGIS 2nd Lieutenant Jonathan Mark David, ejecting his spent USP 9 clip and slapping in another. "We seem to have been separated from Isuzu and Taylor; too bad, really. How fares your endeavour?" he asked pleasantly; from his tone, he could have been politely inquiring about the weather.

"What!"

"In simple English then: Are you doing well, or rapidly past a salvageble point, i.e. are you gonna die soon?"

"Hell no!" replied Aaron indignantly, as Jon's lips curved slightly. _Good to see he has some guts and spirit._ "Well, how's your ammo then?" asked Jon, before leaning out the side of the bench and firing at a line of Invaders, ducking before their return fire took off his head. "How many clips do you have?"

"Two more. You?"

"One," shrugged Jon, a wry smile on his face. "I only brought two spares with me today... and I doubt I can run back to the armoury to sign out some more ammo. I do wish I had my laptop set up, recording what's happening; this'll be a rather interesting sortie, and I'd love to get a chance to analyze it later..."

_BOOM!_

Jon winced as an energy blast chipped concrete 2 inches away, narrowly missing him. Eyes narrowing, he fired at the Invaders again, then ducked back, as Aaron popped out and fired.

"Hey Moore, I don't suppose you'd have an AEGIS laptop with you, would you?"

"What happened to _yours_?"

"Left it behind, didn't want to risk it. Where's yours?"

"It's in that car you drove," grunted Aaron, returning fire, before ejecting his spent clip. "Damn, I'm down to my last spare. If only I had more guns..."

"I can get you some. Guns, that is."

"You gotta be kidding me."

"Nope, all AEGIS unmarked cars have some weapons in the boot. Standard procedure, in case agents need any extra firepower. Can I also borrow your laptop? I have a feeling we'll need it. So, here's the plan. You create the distraction, while I go and get the stuff."

"Just how am I supposed to do that without getting shot at?" _And why didn't you say that earlier?_ raged Aaron silently.

"You're Gatekeeper of Time and Space, with the ability to warp the time-space fabric: your abilities include teleportation and slowing time. I'm sure you can figure out _something_, Aaron," said Jon dryly. "See ya. I'll let you borow my USP and my last clip of ammo - just remember to give it back."

"The things I do," grumbled Aaron, taking the pistol and clip, and firing two-handed at the Invaders, as Jon turned and sprinted to the car, two hundred meters away.

Had Aaron looked back, he would have seen Jon's glasses flash with light, as the sky darkened with the promise of rain.

* * *

Jon ran as if his life depended on it; thankfully, the Invaders were preoccupied with Aaron, which gave him some breathing room. Approaching the black BMW 325iA, he fished in his pockets for the car key and drew it out. Arriving at the car's trunk, he inserted the key and opened the trunk in a single fluid gesture, rummaging inside, until he found a black duffel bag. Reaching for the bag,he was about to open it, when he heard a crunch behind him.

_Footsteps...sounds like leather shoes..._ he thought, tensing, his right hand moving slowly to his side. _Get ready..._

"Come to our world."

Jon's eyes narrowed and hardened as he heard the voice of the Invaders behind him. His reply was to duck into a crouch and pivot to the left, while his right hand reached for the knife he kept in the small of his back. Shifting his weight to his left foot, he drew the knife just as he came about 180 degrees, and launched himself at the Invaders.

His first strike tore a large slash in the lead Invader's neck, severing its head, while his next attack ripped an Invader's arm clean off its body. Jon wove through the mass of Invaders, ducking, slashing, and parrying his 6-inch blade, emerging on the other side of the group unscathed. The same could not be said about his foes; out of the group of 30 that had confronted him, 20 were left standing.

"Sorry, I'm in a hurry," said Jon calmly, his glasses shinning, a dangerous smile on his face. As the Invaders opened their coats and revealed their cannons, Jon raised his knife in a combat stance, and smirked. "Begin."

Had other people been present to witness the battle, many would have agreed that it was an uneven battle: one man armed with a knife against 20 inhuman beings armed with firearms. The Invaders attacked first, firing their cannons at the Malaysian Gatekeeper. Jon's response was to arc his knife and charge, before bringing it down in a Gate-enhanced slash. As the blade flew downwards, a golden trail of light extended from it, cutting into the Invaders and dissolving them into crystals. The carpark was alight with colours: the pink of Invader energy pulses and the golden trails of Jon's Gate, and in a few short moments, all that was left of the Invaders were a scattered mass of crystals.

Taking out the duffel bag, Jon closed the trunk and set the bag on it, looking through what was in it, and nodded to himself, rummaging around in the bag. _Right, flashbangs, smokes, clips, MP5 Navy, a scoped M4A1 Colt Carbine and supressors, and the vest feels like it's lined with kevlar. Web harness, equipment belt - empty, two USP 9s, USP ammo. We're good. The vest isn't too thick, so I'll use it. We're good. We're good._

Taking off his jacket and shoulder holster (there wasn't much point in concealing his weapon _now_), Jon strapped the kevlar vest, harness and equipment belt on, loading its pouches with clips of 5.56mm ammo, and then he slipped one of the USP 9s into the thigh holster of the harness, and balanced it with 9mm clips strapped to his left leg. Folding his jacket neatly, he placed it carefully in the back seat of the BMW, before grabbing Aaron's laptop carrying case and slinging it over his shoulders. Picking up the duffel bag, slinging it over his other shoulder, and taking a few experimental steps, his face set into a hardened expression. Lastly, he picked up the scoped M4A1 and cradled it in his hands, testing the feel of the weapon, before then attaching flashbangs and grenades to the vertical straps of the harness.

_This'll be tough, but I've got no other choice. At the rate we're all heading, we'll end up like the Barak on the Southern Golan,_ Jon thought to himself, trying to quell the growing sinking feeling in his gut.

Arriving where he had left Aaron Moore, Jon David's luck took a turn for the worse.

The park bench was a blackened smoking wreck of twsited metal and wood. Brass shell casings and glowing Invader crystals littered the scene, and the smell of cordite hung in the air. Walking slowly and carefully forward, Jon picked one of the shell casings and held it up to the light, crouching as he did so. "Fourty cal," he muttered, sniffing it. "Smells fresh." Discarding it and picking up another casing, he examined the markings on it. "Nine milimeter hollowpoint casing. The exact same kind in my USP... and it's still warm. He can't have gotten _too_ far away... I hope." _A can of Heneiken will be a welcome cap to this day,_ he thought sourly. _And I'd like a smoke right about now, except that it'll take too long to light one and put it out. Why, oh why, did I ever end up here?_

_Because I am the best person for the job. Because despite my Gate being what it is, I'm one helluva ass-kicker,_ came the instant reply to his silent query. _It's just tiring, how I'm always getting drawn back to this endless waltz. If only I wasn't a Gatekeeper-_

_BLAMBLAMBLAM!_

Jon instictively rolled even as he registered the sound of a gun being fired; coming up in a crouch, he held the M4A1 at the ready, eyes scanning the area, rapidly flickering from the left to the right. _Where is it coming from? _

BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!

_Revolver. From the sound of it, a Colt Single Action Army. Coming from direction... there! 10 o'clock! I don't know who it is, but Invaders don't use Colt SAAs. And if that person isn't an Invader, then he or she is on my side. I hope, normal muggers don't use SAAs.

* * *

_

**1145 Hours Local Time  
Central Park**

In the span of a very few short minutes, Minerva Taylor had managed to get herself seperated from her three companions... not that she minded, really. Although she was currently outnumbered by the Invaders that were out there, she was a New Yorker, and knew Central Park like the back of her hand.

A small voice in the back of her head whispered that she shouldn't have left the other people behind, even if they weren't friends of her, but she ignored it and checked her inventory. She had 4 Imitation Gate Cellphones in her pockets, ready and primed. Her flute was with her, and she also had a small pocketknife in case the Invaders came too near, plus her Karate skills. She was ready.

"You should not run off by yourself," intoned a flat soprano voice gravely. "That is just stupidity."

"SHIT!"

* * *

**1203 Hours local Time.** "Look, just get that Gate Robot up and running, and we'll have a chance!" shouted James Wilson Masters III into the radio. "No, we need to press our advantage! No, we can't fall back! Who's the Gatekeeper Captain, you or me?"

Aaron Moore growled at hearing Masters' voice. Somehow, he'd ended up right with the person he disliked the most on the entire East Coast of the USA. Masters hadn't noticed him yet, but that would change very soon: both of his guns were out of spare ammo, and he needed some fresh clips. Jon's USP had only 3 rounds left, and he had 4 in his Glock. Not much.

"Who else is around?" he asked Natalie Reynolds, since he could stand her.

"Francine Allumange and Jack Shadow of Bureau 2 are somewhere in grid C3, along with Garry Khoo of Bureau 8. Aisha Nadir of Bureau 2 is a bit of a ways behind us. And we're trying to get the Gate Robot in, but there seems to be some trouble transporting it in."

"Anybody got a laptop around here?"

"Use your own, Moore," growled Masters, taking his ear away from the handset of the backpack radio. "We can't spare one for you."

"Imbecile," muttered Aaron to himself. "If I had mine, I'd be using it already."

* * *

**The same time...**

"Two down! Let's keep moving!" shouted Francine, expertly hitting targets with her twin colt revolvers. The Frenchwowan abhorred automatic pistols: after all, the Colt revolver was the weapon that had tamed the Wild West. Accurate, with good stopping power, it was perfect. The only problem was that it was a bother to reload 12 bullets manually, and she only had 2 shots left in both weapons... which was not very good when there were about fourty Invaders blocking your way...

_"FIRE IN THE HOLE! GET DOWN!" _screamed a voice, as a flashbang flew through the air, explosing in a blaze of intense white light and noise, punctuated by the stacatto rat-tat-tat of a rifle. As the light subsided and her vision returned, Francine saw the young officer from Bureau 9 down on one knee, mowing down Invaders with well-placed shots from his scoped M4A1, intersposed with a thrown white phosphorus smoke grenade.

The rifle ran dry and in a fluid motion, Jon ejected the clip and slapped another in, chambering it and bringing the weapon to bear, steadily squeezing the trigger until all the Invaders were glittering crystals and his clip was empty. Letting it slide out, he inserted a new clip, turned, and gave a half-bow to Francine. "Waell, waell, it's the heart-stopper of the French Wild Waest," he drawled, in an outrageously exaggerated American accent, before grinning and walking to her, extending his hand. "Jon David, Bureau 4," he said, using his normal tone of voice. "That was some pretty good shooting you did with your Colts, Miss. Where are your companions?"

"Sorry, we went a bit ahead, but ran into a group of 15," said Gerry Khoo, coming up behind Jon, who quirked an eyebrow. "15? It shouldn't take _that_ long, Gerry. 15's not too much. You must be out of practice mate - too much hitting the waves'll do that."

"We don't have guns. Anyhow, we're trying to meet up with the main force - you want to tag along, mate?"

"Right-o; a stupid bugger by the name of Aaron Moore took my USP and I want it back," growled Jon. "What's the deal with him and Masters anyways: some kind of fued?"

Silence and shrugs.

"Right, then, let's go. I've got Moore's laptop, so I'll set it to scan for any AEGIS signals, and then we'll home in."

"Just make sure to read the markings carefully," ginned Garry. "Or you'd end up like that time I was with you in Singapore - lost for hours. And haven't you forgotten that you don't have the password to that computer, mate?"

"Gerry my friend, I loath and despise you the way Dog loathes Horse."

"I thought that was Prince Charlie?"

"Shut up and get moving, and hold this laptop for me," replied Jon curtly, though his eyes were twinkling.

* * *

**Bureau 1 HQ. Beneath the UN building.  
1530 hours local time.**

"So, 2nd Lt. David, when did you make contact with Captain Masters and Team 1-1?"

"Around 1215 hours local time, sir," replied Jon tiredly, leaning back in his chair. It was bad enough that there was that sortie, but now THIS? A debriefing, they said... though it was more of an interrogation/witch hunt. "I arrived on scene, retrieved my sidearm from Agent Moore, loaded up, and distributed the contents of the weapons bag to anyone who needed to reload. The troopers embedded with us were appreciative of that, even if I hadn't much ammo with me.

"You also ordered the Gatekeepers to fall back."

"They were walking into an ambush. Sir." Jon's glasses glinted, as he ran a hand through his hair. From the smart, impeccably-dressed officer of the morning, he was a different person. His shirt was rumpled with the top buttons unbottoned, his tie had been loosed, sleeves rolled up to elbow level and his jacket was draped over the arm of the chair. His clothes weren't freshly starched as well - they'd become grimy, though not too uncomfortable.

Most of all, his patience and his temper were wearing very thin indeed. And his left forearm hurt beneath the fresh bandages that reached up from his palm to his elbow.

"But that was not your call to make. You even defied the on-scene commander."

"Permission to smoke, sir?" as Jon, after a moment of silence, his expression tired and guarded, glasses glinting. He really wanted that smoke: it had been a long day, and his shoulders were starting to hurt; He'd left his USP in his replaced shoulder holster, not bothering to remove it, leaving his weapon visible to all. If he was trying to intimidate the Chairman, it wasn't suceeding. All the black pistol was doing was adding to the weight on his shoulders. _I hope he says yes. I need to 'purify' my soul._

"No. Continue."

_Health Nazi. I'll just purify my soul outside then._ "Well, after I made contact with Special Agents Allumange, Shadow and Khoo, we then bumped into a squad of troopers pinned down, and helped relieve them, before regrouping with Captain Masters, who was yelling over the tac-net for the Gate Robot. It finally came, Agent Reynolds sortied with it into an area with a heavy IPW saturation, and that, Sir, is when all hell broke loose. You see Sir, Masters is an idiot. It's to be expected though, considering his age, and the fact that he doesn't that much practical experience... but this is plain foolhardy. Even the Invincible Fourth would be cautious... well, I'd be worried, so would Vince, and Steph would charge in. I still have no idea why we were called Invincible Fourth... oh, right. Now I remember. Sorry, got a little off-track.

"Anyways, the IPW showed a heavy concentration of Invaders right where he's sending that Gate Robot and engaging in close range combat, which is stupid; haven't these people heard of cannon packs? Or arm guns? Kono bakayaro bodoh gwailo tolol idiot fool asshole shithead."

"Please watch your language, Lieutenant, everything you say is being recorded," warned the Chairman, an undertone of a threat in his voice.

"Very well Sir," replied Jon neutrally. "So, I'm watching the situation,and then he's ordering all Gatekeepers to advance, because there's only about 60 or so Invader grunts left. Moore didn't want to go and I don't blame him. I'm not moving: there's a reason I'm holding a sniper rifle. You DON'T ask snipers to move when they've found a sniping spot - you let them move on their own! Sniper Rules of Engagement, AEGIS Field Handbook, Page 56, Paragraph 4. Not to mention that I'm in a different chain of command than he is... The IPW readings start increasing increasing dramatically... and I go 'shit, it's a trap!' I grab the radio and send out an alert signal: "Pan Pan Pan, Code U, Uniform, Uniform. Pan Pan Pan, Code U, Uniform, Uniform. All AEGIS forces, fall back, NOW!" But, damnit, Masters screams at me, asking what that nonsense is - doesn't he know the retreat signal? Some Captain he is...

"Please bear in mind that you have a disciplinary record, Lieutenant, and that this may not help it very much."

"Yes sir," replied Jon with false cheer. "Where was I? Ah, right, the Invader ambush. Well, I noted that the IPW spike was too high to account for 60 Invaders, so I suspected an ambush and tried to warn the site commander accordingly. I admit that I didn't expect _four_ Raffelesia-type fusionforms though. I remember thinking that that'd about that time that I decided I should have another smoke. The nicotine helps me to relax, it's a decent alternative to Dizepam or Pentaemin, and having one addiction is bad enough, without being addicted to heavier drugs.

"Well, the rest of the Gatekeepers had gotten themselves pinned down by the Raffies by the tinme I lit my cig and sighted me first target. I remember thinking, 'Wonderful. Now if I shoot, the Gatekeepers will get plastered,' and while I don't like Masters, I do have a duty not to kill him. Plus, Garry Khoo is there, and I like him, he's a good guy. We've worked together before. Just when I think it can't get any worse, the Gate Robot falls down on it's arse. Geez. You'd think that girl would have learned how to duck by now. If this is how Team 1-1 operates, all I can say is the prognosis is not good..."

* * *

"Not good," murmured Jon David. "Not good at all."

"Thank you for stating the obvious." remarked Aaron dryly.

"You're welcome, Aaron. Thank you for giving me my USP back. So, any suggestions?" asked Jon, equally dryly.

"You're that uber-genius from Ops. Figure something out."

"Yeah, well I'm not usually up against 4 Raffies holding 20+ hostages. You got any cellphones?"

"5. You?"

"None. Didn't bring any. I prefer my USP. If you're a decent shot, take the Colt Carbine and give me covering fire, I have a plan."

"Which is?"

"You cover me, I rush the Invaders with an MP5N and USP, and grab the Gate Robot - and get shot up by the Raffelesias. We need more allies, gimme that for a moment please." Not waiting for a response, Jon grabbed Aaron's laptop and started typing rapidly, muttering to himself. "Aha. Found you, my kitten."

"What?"

"Got two unaccounted for Gatekeepers around - my guess is Isuzu Ayane and Minerva Taylor, and they both look to be rather close by. I figure if we can meet up with them, we can strategize. Let's get to it."

* * *

"So you ran away?"

"It was a tactical retreat," said Jon simply. "We were heavily outgunned, and had no option but to fall back, regroup, and then launch our counterattack. I might add that our plan was quite risky."

"So you say, Lieutenant. That doesn't disguise the fact that you ran away, as per Captain Masters' report."

"With all due respect, Chairman, you weren't there. As I was saying, we fell back and met up with Isuzu Ayane and Minerva Taylor - who apparently were getting on each other's nerves..."

* * *

**1225 Hours Local Time.  
Central Park.**

"Y'know, I've seen a lot of things, but I reckon this takes the cake," muttered Jon, reaching into his pants pocket and taking out his lighter and cigs. He'd given all the 5.56mm ammo to Aaron and he'd attached USP and MP5 ammo pouches along the harness. His USP was in the thigh holster, and an MP5N submachinegun was slung across his shoulders. Behind him, Aaron cradled the M4A1, and carried the remaining grenades.

"You said it," muttered Aaron, his expression disbelieving at the sight of Minerva yelling away at Ayane. "There's a battle going on and they're arguing?"

"No, Sorceress is arguing, while Shippuu is ignoring her. A bit of a difference, that," replied Jon, lighting the cancer stick and taking a puff. He sighed, shook his head, and then started walking to them, the cig dangling from his lips. "Yo, ore no kawaii ojou-san. Genki ka?"

"Wha-?"

"Was that supposed to be funny?"

"Not really, Isuzu-kun, not really. We've gotten into some trouble - those idiots at 1-1 charged ahead and got themselves AND everyone else captured. Last I saw, they were being held hostage - I think whoever's running this show knows that there are more of us out there. And to put it simply: I need your help."

"I see," replied Ayane, glancing over her laptop. "Do you have any suggestions?"

"The Invaders will shoot at the slightest provocation. Of all of the 4 of us, I'm the only one powerful enough to create a defensive shield that'll protect the hostages. I'll draw their fire, and you, Taylor, and Moore can setup an ambush. You've got a lot of phones, right?"

"Yes. There is something else we could do-" trailed off Ayane, as she and Jon began discussing strategies in rapid-fire Japanese, much to the bewilderment of Aaron and Minerva. Finally, Jon looked up, and waved to them. "Huddle, we gotta talk."

"I'm not putting my head close to a Canadian."

"I don't want to have anything to do with a Goth."

"Now now, easy way or hard way kids," grinned Jon pleasantly. "Easy way or hard way. Hard way, I shoot you two, heal you, and then we get on with saving the day. Easy way, you two shut up, and work together, so the conferance can wrap up, and so I can go home. I want - no, NEED - a beer right now, and this little battle is getting in my way. So shut up and listen. There's 4 Raffies guarding and shooting stuff all over. Aaron, you can teleport, so your job will be to plant the charges: Imitation Gate Cellphones set to Fire; Isuzu-kun will give you some phones to drop. Minerva, your gate is Illusions. Start playing on that flute and gives us some cover. Isuzu-kun will coordinate and detonate the cellphones on signal." Jon pointed to a diagram on Ayane's laptop, motioning to the representations of Gatekeepers, Raffelesia fusionforms and Invaders. "Take those two first, that are next to each other. Any questions?"

"Yeah, what are you doing?" retorted Minerva. "Sitting around?"

Jon's answer to her was to narrow his eyes and bare his teeth in a shark-like grin, his amber glasses glinting. "Moi? I'm gonna take some Willie Pete grenades, walk into that formation and piss some Invaders off," he said, cracking his knuckles. "As long as we take down the 4 Raffies, we have a fighting chance. Any more questions? No? Then let's do it." Placing his hand out, he motioned to the rest of them, who reluctantly placed their hands on top of his. "Okay, people," making eye contact one by one, "This is it. The eyes of bureau 1 are upon us. We are the Valkyries, and none shall stand before our wrath."

"Hey, it sounded a lot better than _'We're all gonna die',_" muttered Jon defensively. "To your stations everyone. Let's kick some Invader ass." And then he took off, sprinting towards the Invaders, a wild smile on his face, MP5N at the ready.

* * *

**A few minutes later...**

It irked James Wilson Masters III that Jon David had been right. That he and the other Gatekeepers were now prisoners because he'd ingnored Jon's warnging was conviniently forgotten. It was the Bureau 4 officer's fault for not warning them of the ambush - that he'd also done so was pointedly forgotten, as a matter of being consistent.

The situation now wasn't a very good one: the Gatekeepers had managed to use Imitation Gate Cellphones to set up an energy barrier protecting themselves from the barrage of fire coming from the raffelesias and the unmerged Invaders on the ground, as well as the mass of Invader tentacles that were trying to crush their barrier. They had only so many cellphones though - he could tell from the crackling in the golden wall that it would only be a matter of time before the shield collapsed.

"It figures that the more I try to run away from who I am, the more I find myself drawn to these situations. Tsk. How troublesome."

Masters' head shot up, and he looked in surprise as a figure walked towards them, ignoring the Invader barrage. The cherry-red glow of a cigarette glowed from between his lips, gray smoke wafting up, as he dispassionately gazed at the scene. "I'd say I told you so, but that would be just taunting, Masters," he said calmly, casually leaving his hands in his pockets. "Looks like it's up to Compass to bail you Gatekeepers out of a mess."

As he had been talking, the Invaders had shifted their focus to lock onto him, bringing their cannons to bear - though as he was now standing near the base of one of the Raffelesia fusion-forms, nothing was firing at him yet.

_Thank God for small favors. No one's shooting yet, but that will all change soon,_ smirked Jon, taking a long drag on his cig and exhaling. _It's been a long time indeed..._

"Alright. Let's not stand here all day. Begin," said Jon quietly, tossing his ciggarette in the air, somehow making the gesture seem odly dignified. As the cancer stick rose and fell, the Invaders started to move forward... only to find that he was no longer there.

"Look up, ahou."

Before the cigarette landed on the ground, Jon had drawn his USP and his combat knife and was a blur of action, firing into the mass of Invaders and fighting at close range with his knife, alternating between stabbing, slashing, and shooting.

_Stab, slash, shoot, duck, pivot, stab, slash, shoot. Repeat. At its most basic level, close quaters combat is nothing more than a highly intricate dance of agression. The man fighting alone has the adavantage over a group, because he can focus on attack and not worry about hitting his allies,_ thought Jon, ducking and weaving, remembering the lessons taught years ago. _At any rate, my job is to form a distraction - like this!_

Throwing his knife at an Invader and taking its head off, Jon used his free hand to yank an grenade from his belt and threw it at the tentacles covering the barrier. The grenade exploded, casting white smoke that spread over the area, as Jon retrieved his knife, holstered his USP and grabbed another grenade, throwing it in the general vicinity. The second grenade exploded in the midst of the Invaders, providing Jon the distraction he needed to break off engagement and get closer to the nearest raffelesia.

The Gatekeepers and Gate Robot had been caught in a 4-way crossfire between the cannon-toting raffelesia fusionforms and the surrounding Invaders. Jon's plan was simple: run up to the nearest Raffelesia, jump up, and fill the redcoat in the center with a clipful of 9mm hollowpoints, all the while making such a nuisance of himself that the Invaders would focus on him. To help in that task, he'd thrown the white phosphorus grenades around: white phosphorus was a truly interesting chemical. It could form a smoke that was near-impossible to decipher with thermal sensors and the naked eye, and more importantly: it burned like hell, searing invader flesh - from his experience, Jon knew that the tentacles on the energy barrier were no more.

_That's the point. Now where is he..._

Jon lobbed another grenade and fired a few more shots into the white smoke - from the shrieks, he had managed to hit something. Quickly swapping out his empty clip for a fully loaded clip, he moved slowly through the smoke that obscured his vision. Even if he had thermal goggles, it wouldn't have helped, with the heat from the white phosphorus.

_Lots of whiteout, but I don't need thermal goggles, I can see just fine._ Closing his eyes, Jon calmed himself and reached out with his extra senses. 7 years of experience with his Gate had allowed him to read the flickers of ki given out by all life-forms, and right now, he could feel a movement near the Raffelesia across from him.

_That would be Aaron, most likely. The ki feels masculine. And there's a whisper of feminine ki behind his... that'd be Minerva...splitting up, eh? Dropping phones on seperate targets: good, only 2 left to take care of. And this guy goes now._

Jon took a deep breath and jumped up onto one of the rafelesia's arms, driving his knife into the skin of the fusionform, ignoring the shriek of pain it emitted. Using his momentum he swung himself up, grabbing onto a protusion and yanking his blade out, before driving it higher on the limb and using it to hold himself up, as his free hand drew the MP5N and aimed at the head of the red-coated Invader. "Any last words?"

"Come to our world."

"Guess not," he said sofly, before squeezing the trigger and spraying the redcoat with hot lead.

On her laptop, surveying the scene, Ayane frowned in concentration. Aaron and Minerva had spiked two of the raffelesias, and Jon's words came to mind: "They'll have enough time to spike 2, maybe 3 if we're lucky, but I don't count on luck. I'll be running around and making a nuisance of myself - as soon as they've spiked 2 raffelesias, trigger the phones. I'll handle the other two."

"That will be difficult and foolhardy, Shoui."

"So you say - but my team wasn't called the Invincible Fourth for nothing," he grinned crookedly at her. "Seriously, we can't wait for Moore and Taylor to spike all 4 targets - as soon as they spike 2, take them out, and I'll handle the other two. Use your own discretion as to the timing, but those two Raffelesias _must_ go down if we're to have a chance."

"You anticipate a counterattack," replied Ayane bluntly.

"Yes. That's why we need to work fast, and that's why we can't wait for Moore and Taylor."

On her laptop, the signals from the cellphones that Aaron and Minerva had dropped into position came online, indicating readiness for data transfer, and not for the first time, Ayane thanked whoever had created the wonder that was GPRS. The ability to control cellphones from afar had made her life so much easier, on many occasions.

She mentally debated activating the cellphones now, or to wait for a few more minutes. Aaron and Minerva solved that problem by spiking a third raffelesia - evidently, they were faster than Jon had anticipated. Her glasses glinted, as her fingers now flew over the keyboard, typing in the commands that would send the signal to all 12 imitation Gate cellphones to detonate, and then pressed the **ENTER** key.

**GATE OPEN - EXPLOSION.**

Looking over the top of her laptop screen, Ayane watched the colours that marked the release of Gate energy, one thought in her mind.

_Kirei_.

* * *

_Oh yes, this is definately __not_ my day.

That thought ran through Jon's mind as he tumbled to the ground, having thrown himself off the Raffelesia before one of its many arms could bash him into pulp. As he fell he continued firing the MP5N, ejecting the clip when it ran dry, and bracing himself as he saw the ground come closer.

_This is going to hurt._

Jon first swung his arm, slinging the MP5N around his back, and then he reached out, left palm towards the ground, angling his body to land in a crouch, the hard concrete now just 6 feet away. "Open," he whispered, as a ring of gold light appeared beneath his palm, and he fell to the ground.

It appeared to Aisha Nadir that as his body neared the ground, Jon _slowed_, his fall halted by some unseen force, and as he landed in a crouch his hand reached to his back. With one movement his MP5N was in the ready position - two more movements and a new clip had been inserted and chambered, and a second later, his left hand snatched his combat knife out of the air. As the raffelesias behind began to fire, a massive fireball consumed them, utterly vaporizing two of the fusionforms, and Jon smirked grimly.

Then the third raffelesia exploded, and Jon's expression quickly turned from grim determination to a suprised 'huh?' look.

_"WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL US SHE WAS GOING TO EXPLODE THOSE CELLPHONES BEHIND US!"_

Jon blinked, glancing at a wild-eyed Minerva Taylor, and shrugged. "Sorry. Can't hear you. Explosion blocked out my ears," he called back nonplussed, as the unfused Invaders surged forward, while he answered their movements with staccato bursts of the German weapon. _Didn't expect them to be fast enough to spike 3. Not bad. Looks like those 2 have potential._

Aaron kept firing away with the M4A1 on full-auto as more Invaders popped up, and then switched targets to track the remaining Raffelesia. Minerva threw a Lightning cellphone into the midst of the Invaders and began playing her flute... until an Invader body-checked her, slamming her to the ground. She shook her head and rolled to the side, narrowly missing a headshot, and jumped back up, still a bit unsteady, raising her hands in a standard Karate stance, as a dart of silver light flashed by and slammed into the Invader, dissolving it.

"You owe me," called Aaron calmly, swapping out his spent M4A1 clip. "How about that, American?"

"Drop dead," growled Minerva, as the large Raffelesia drew itself up and aimed all its cannons at the mass of Gatekeepers, and fired... just as the energy barrier failed.

In a flash Jon slung his MP5N on his back and stretched out his left hand, narrowing his eyes in concentration, and spoke, in a voice barely above a whisper: "Gate Open. Shield."

The assembled Gatekeepers looked on in shock as three giant rings of gold light formed in the air in front of Jon's outstretched palm, and as the barrage impacted on the rings, it formed into a shield, abosorbing the energy poured into it, to the shock of all Gatekeepers.

"Oh, close your mouths, it's not like you've seen a Gate do this before," growled Jon, as the barrage died out moments later. He glanced to the side, and then cursed.

Aaron and Minerva were back-to-back, surrounded by Invaders with guns to their heads. The rest of the Gatekeepers were in a similar position, and Jon noted that the Raffelesia shifted its arms to point all remaining cannons at him.

Stalemate.

Closing his eyes, Jon slowly crounched, steepling his fingers and kneeling on his right leg, looking for all the world as if he was sleeping, but if one were to look closer, one would see that his eyebrows were pressed tightly together. He held that pose for a moment, and then slowly slipped his left hand into his pocket, his fingers moving quickly.

"Where are your skills now?" jeered Aisha Nadir angrily. "You were all talk and no action." Glaring at the Invaders and the other Gatekeepers, she growled, "And to think that I will die in the midst of all these infidels-"

"You won't die. So shut up," rebuked James Masters, glaring at the Kuwaiti Gatekeeper. "It would be awful to die with you," he continued, just as the ranks of Invaders suddenly went up in red flames. The flames died off, and Aisha could see a small figure slowly walk closer to them, dressed in a red raincoat.

"You're late, Isuzu-kun," said Jon curtly, his eyes still closed. "Still, you arrived just as I was about to finish my SMS to you, so I suppose it evens out."

"I don't have to explain myself to you, Shoui," was the equally curt reply from Ayane.

"No, but it's hard to work with you when you're like this." Jon slowly stood, cracked his kncukles, and opened his eyes. "Enough talk. Let's rock." He eyed the Raffelesia critically, and then raised his left hand, palm open. The three-ringed Gate sprang to life in the air in front of him; drawing his USP, Jon aimed at the raffelesia, and squeezed the trigger. The pistol barked six times before clicking; ejecting the spent clip, Jon made no attempt to reload, and dropped the pistol back into the hoslter. The six rounds flew through the air and passed right between the rings: one moment, there was nothing, and then a splitsecond later 6 shafts of light sped towards the raffelesia, smashing into its body.

"You forgot the rest of the Invaders," said Ayane, throwing a Lightning cellphone to the side. "Your strategy is lacking."

"Whatever," growled Jon, his hands forming a quick series of signals before he held his left hand palm down, Gate energy coalescing in a ball, gold tendrils of energy forming from the ball and curing upwards. He pushed his glasses higher up his nose and then his lips parted in a Hoshigaki Kisame-like smirk, glasses glinting at the Raffelesia fusionform that was gathering energy to its cannons.

"You are troublesome. So I'll deal with you first. DIE!" shouted Jon, darting forward. Invaders closed to ranks to stop him, but he merely leaped over them and used them as a walkway, stepping on Invader heads as he forged a path to his target, the ball in his hand trailing tendrils of energy that ripped apart Invaders that came too close. Within seconds he was at the base of the Rafelesia.

_Now or never, all or nothing sore dake._

As the shockwave cannons fired at him, he jumped up, soaring above the headof the red core Invader in a single bound. _Closer... just a little closer... NOW!_

Jon slammed the ball of Gate energy right into the redcoat's face, using his falling momentum to increase the speed of the discharge. The force of his "shot" sent a wave of force in all directions and a bright light lit up the area. The redcoat screamed in agony as it was annihilated, along with a sizable portion of the Raffelesia's body, as the fusionform began collapsing. As he landed on the ground, the Malaysian smirked once more and thrust out his right hand, the now-glowing palm facing outwards, as the three rings appeared in front of his body again. "Seratus Panah Cahaya!" he called, as dozens of arrows shot out from his hand in a rain of light, impaling and devastating the dissolving Raffelesia. The remaining Invaders turned to track him, and he gave a wry, exhausted smile...

* * *

"And _that_ was when Agent Isuzu anihalated them with her Imitation Gate Cellphones, before the rest of the Gatekeepers fought off their captors," finished Jon, shrugging. "So, that's pretty much it."

"It's at odds with Captain Masters' report-"

"Look, _Sir_, you wanted the encounter the way I saw it, so that's how I saw it. I didn't really care much about the rest after the battle because I was busy looking for a first aid kit to bandage up my forearm, before a medic found me and dragged me over to get it treated. So, we done?" in a neutral manner that somehow had undertones of boredom.

The Chairman sighed and looked at his notes, and then nodded. "We're done Lieutenant. You can take your things and head out."

"Thank you."

As soon as he left the room, Jon removed the tie from his neck and stuffed it into the breast pocket of his shirt. Leaning against the wall, he closed his eyes and reached into his pockets, keeping the jacket slung over his shoulders, and hunted for his ciggarettes. Taking one out, he lit it, and was just about to take a long drag on it-

"This is a No Smoking zone," rebuked a cold voice.

"Well, well, if it's not Captain Masters of the illustrious Interception Team 1-1," replied Jon, keeping the cig lit. "What business do you have with me?"

"I was just passing by and had the bad luck to see you."

"And you can't bear the thought that someone from the Third World showed you up at what should have been your spotlight, is it?" asked Jon quietly, dropping the cancer stick and crushing it. "You can't bear the thought that you were shown up, am I right?"

Masters flushed a brilliant shade of crimson, and lashed back at him. "Well, at least I wasn't a coward like you were, running away and only coming back when you had-"

The next thing Masters knew, his back was being pressed painfully to the wall, with Jon right in his face, his eyes blazing with fury. "Coward, is it?" he hissed. "You call me a coward. You know _nothing_ of me. You know _nothing_ of what I've gone through. You are NOTHING compared to what I am. You think you're the biggest kid on the block - well, I could kill you, right here, right now, without even using my Gate. If I used my Gate, I could kill half of Bureau 1 before you idiots could kill me. But I won't. You know why, Masters?"

Masters shook his head, trembling with fear.

"It's because there's only one thing that keeps me from being a mere killer. I'm a soldier. And a soldier doesn't kill because he likes killing, or because it's convinient. He kills only when he has too. And despite the fact that I'd like to kill you know, there's no pressing reson for doing so. So, you live." And then he slammed his fist into Masters' gut.

"Gyah...wha...?"

"Letting you live doesn't mean I can't sucker-punch you," shrugged Jon, a cruel smirk playing over his features. "See ya. It could have been worse."

"Good job."

"As much as I dislike Americans, she has a point."

"What are you two doing here?" asked Jon, narrowing his eyes, glancing at the newly formed dark spots on his bandages. _Crap, I strained my wounds._

"Walking around after the witch hunt," replied Aaron sourly, his hands in his pockets. "We got out at the same time, saw you suckerpunch him. Nice one."

"That was pretty cool," grinned Minerva, "But I"m pretty sure I could do better - I'm a red belt in Karate. I've always wanted to do that."

"Ah well, I'll just prepare myself for repercussions," shrugged Jon, as the three of them walked to the elevator to head to the surface. "It's no big deal. I'll just get my pay docked, and have to write stacks of apology letters. Prolly have my shooting privelages revoked for a month or two as well." He lit another ciggarette, and slung his jacket over his left forearm, wincing slightly. "Enough of this place, it's getting on my nerve. For a pair of kids, you two aren't so bad at all - what say I take you out to dinner?" he grinned.

"Unfortunately, I'm afraid you'll have to put that plan on hold."

Aaron and Minerva jumped, and whirled around to see Kageyama Reiji standing behind them. Jon clicked his heels together and drew himself up in a salute, before relaxing his stance. "Kageyama-dono," he said respectfully. "Why would you need to see us? Surely the Director of AEGIS Intelligence has more important things on his to-do list."

"Actually, you _are_ on my to-do list," returned Kageyama, his lips curving. "Follow me. I have something that will interest you."

"Just what is going on here?" demanded Minerva, only to have Jon wave his hand at her. "What?"

"When Kageyama Reiji asks you to do something, you do it," he said, his expression calm and collected, a far cry from just a few minutes ago. "So let's go. Unlike certain people, Kageyama-dono won't screw us over."

_To Be continued..._

**Author's Notes 2:** Well, I'm very sorry for the delays in getting this out. Real life was a bitch, but that's no excuse. sighs _Mea culpa, mea maxima culpa_; I have sinned, I have greatly sinned.

In between Chapter 1 and 2, I joined the category of people called 'Ronin': those who failed their college entrance exams. I worked a bit, came back and did my exams, and at the moment I'm an intern in a law firm here getting some practical experience in before uni. All in all, things are doing okay... although my dad is a bit pissed about my results this time, which aren't stellar. --;; Gonna havta work my ass off to get into college and law school... and since there's not much more I can say, I guess I'll use this to greet people, ala what Shouji Gatoh does at the end of every Full Metal Panic! novel he writes.

A big thank you to all who reviewed. Dedications to Tozetre, who read this over and gave comments; Tk & Chrone, my homeboys, for egging me on, and to MS13, who's been a help. TK, while you may be the coding genius among us... Chrone and I can still kick your ass anyday. Take care as you go back to Canada,. To Chrone, best of luck at uni in Xiamen, and remember, I'm always thinking of you as I write this. Stay warm, study hard, and Rock On, Bro. Toze: all the best with your video game project, and thanks for your help in beta-ing. MS13: It's been great having you as a penpal, koneko-chan. .

And a few things I'd like to clear up to reviewers:

Yamamoto Kou: When I wrote that GK02 "blatantly disregards canon", I was referring to the GK1985 and GK21 story. The concepts from GK21 are still relevant here, so yes, the Invader crystals still house people's souls. As for collecting them, well, that'll be revealed in next chapters. . There's a reason for that. Also, take care in Aussieland... and how come you don't write me anymore?

Sorceress of Blades: You're right, on reflection, there's no way Jon could have been driving at 90MPH in the city streets of New York. I'll just call it creative lisence. (I mean, Shun drives around Tokyo at 300KM/H...)

Kochan1: Thanks for your review, Ko, and I enjoyed your Initial D fic as well. Let's both keep plugging away at our fics, eh? . I hope this chapter satisfied your GK needs for a while. To answer your question: Why does Jon drop words from different languages in his English? It's part of being Malaysian; many Malaysians tend to mix a few words in here and there. As for referring to Aaron & Masters as "Gwailo" (Foreign Devils), well, would _you_ want people to know you were calling them Foreign Devils? RVD: The Central Park attack by the Invaders... I can't really say more on your guess, since that'd be a spoiler. Still, thanks for your comments. With regards to Chapter 3, I'm afraid work on it is on hold for a while. My family's moving to KL, and so these next few weeks are going to be very busy... and we're giving away this computer. (Flipside: new machine in KL. Finally. A new machine for the first time in my life.) Anyhow, in the chaos of moving and packing, I won't be able to write much... but I'll try and make sure that the next chapter doesn't take more than a year to come out. o.O;;

Anyways, till next time, everyone! Ja!

(Goose ninjas out)


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